4:05 PM PT -- Holland joined the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) last Wednesday (Aug. 31) ... and Babcock asked him if he had interest in serving as the backup fighter at UFC 279 for Nate Diaz vs. Khamzat Chimaev, barring something unforeseen.
Kevin told us ... "If one of them wanted to come up to [180 lbs.], possibly. Chimaev is 100% wrestler. My wrestling is pretty good right now, but 100% wrestler, that is my kryptonite, so I'd like to have a full dedicated map for that."
3:15 PM PT -- UFC 279 lives ... Dana White just announced Nate Diaz will now face Tony Ferguson Saturday night. Khamzat, who missed weight by nearly 8 pounds, will fight Kevin Holland.
Holland was originally scheduled to fight Daniel Rodriguez ... who will now fight Li Jingliang -- who was set to fight Ferguson before all of Friday's drama.
Both the Diaz-Ferguson and Chimaev-Holland fights will be 5 rounds.
1:19 PM PT -- Kevin Holland just made his demands in order to save the card and Chimaev's chances at fighting ... saying he'll only fight Khamzat if it's a 5-round main event.
Khamzat Chimaev just stepped on the scale during weigh-ins ... and the UFC star weighed a whopping 7.5 pounds over the 171-pound limit -- putting his highly anticipated fight with Nate Diaz in jeopardy.
Diaz and Chimaev are the main event at UFC 279 -- where they're fighting at welterweight (170 pounds) -- but when it came time for the 28-year-old undefeated fighter to get on the scale, he clocked in at 178.5 pounds.
It didn't seem like Khamzat was upset or remorseful, either ... he flipped the middle finger up as he was about to step off the scale.
He also Tweeted an altered image with training partner Darren Till.
@darrentill2 It’s his fault 😂 pic.twitter.com/chmZTZ7ctc
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) September 9, 2022
FYI, during non-title fights, the UFC allows fighters to be one pound overweight ... meaning Khamzat could've made weight weighing 171 pounds. But, he wasn't even close.
In fact, 178.5 pounds puts Chimaev closer to the Middleweight division (185 pounds) ... where he has also previously fought.
Nate weighed in at 171 pounds.
Now, the question is, what happens to the fight?? There's a chance the bout could be scrapped ... or, Khamzat will be forced to give up a healthy chunk of his fight check to Diaz.
Story developing ...
Originally Published -- 10:32 AM PT