Khamzat Chimaev comes clean on why he shoved Ian Garry at UFC Qatar: "Trying to be Conor"

UFC Qatar delivered plenty of drama, but what perhaps grabbed the most attention was Khamzat Chimaev's heated backstage altercation with Ian Machado Garry.

What was meant to be a friendly moment between the fighters, after Arman Tsarukyan's win over Dan Hooker, nearly broke into a brawl as 'Borz' felt disrespected.

Garry patted Chimaev on his back while congratulating him on his friend's victory. The Chechen-born Emirati, however, took offense to the gesture and shoved the Irishman, prompting the UFC security to intervene and separate the two.

Following the incident, the middleweight champion has come out and explained what exactly prompted him to react the way he did. As he sees it, Garry was there merely to create hype, not to acknowledge the win.

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

During the post-fight presser, Chimaev accused the welterweight fighter of trying to be Conor McGregor:

"If you touch somebody, touch respectfully. Don't punch somebody on the behind, you know. He was punching, like tapping my back. If you want to show respect, respectfully touch somebody... He came there to make some hype, you know that guy. He is trying to be Conor [McGregor], but he'll never be Conor."

Check out Khamzat Chimaev's comments about Ian Garry below:

---

Ian Garry accuses Khamzat Chimaev of "little d**k" after backstage altercation

Ian Machado Garry has vehemently hit back at Khamzat Chimaev after the latter shoved him backstage at UFC Qatar. As 'The Future' sees it, 'Borz's' behavior was not befitting a champion.

Addressing the incident during the post-fight press conference, Garry claimed that they were having a cordial interaction until Chimaev's "childlike energy" abruptly turned things sour.

The No. 6-ranked welterweight didn't stop there and called out Chimaev for trying to steal the spotlight from Arman Tsarukyan:

"You're meant to be a champion of this sport, you're a child. You're taking away from your friend's win over here. How about you calm down, slow down, and have a bit of respect for your friend over here, rather than try to steal the headlines. Do you want the honest truth? It's little d**k energy. 'I need to show that I'm tough.' You're the champion of the world; no one needs to see you be tough."

Edited by Ujwal Jain