Khamzat Chimaev isn’t mincing his words ahead of a proposed September showdown with Nate Diaz.

It emerged late on Tuesday that the two fighters had agreed to meet in the UFC 279 headliner at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, with UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell confirming to ESPN that the fight is close to being signed. It is the final fight on Diaz’s UFC deal, after which he will observe a spell where the UFC can exclusively sign him to a new deal — usually around three months — before he hits the true free agency market.

A representative of Diaz also confirmed the fight to ESPN. “This is a fight Nate has been asking for since the middle of April,” said Zach Rosenfield of the forthcoming contest.

Diaz has been insistent in recent months in fighting out his UFC deal, and have grown frustrated having not competed since a defeat by Leon Edwards last July.

But the UFC have finally handed him an Octagon assignment — and it comes against the unbeaten Chimaev, a fighter who has surged up the welterweight rankings since debuting with the organisation two years ago.

And, as ever, Chimaev is confident.

“I am going to handle Nate Diaz’s funeral with the UFC,” he said via translation to ESPN.