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If Khamzat Chimaev's first UFC fight was enough to put him on the map as a possible new force in the UFC, his second fight proved that he is something special. After all, that second win came just 10 days after his debut. Now, five fights into his Octagon career, Chimaev is set to headline a UFC pay-per-view for the first time, though against an opponent many feel is below the level of competition he should be facing.

Chimaev will battle fan-favorite Nate Diaz at UFC 279 on Saturday night from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. And, while Diaz has no shortage of impressive performances in his career, Chimaev enters as a massive favorite in what may be a no-win situation for the Swedish mauler.

Diaz, whose most famous win came when he was the first man to defeat Conor McGregor in the Octagon, is not even ranked in the UFC's top 15. He holds a single win since the start of 2019, when he returned from three years out of the Octagon. Dating back to 2011, Diaz has a losing record of 7-8.

Setting aside Diaz's name value, which is on par with nearly anyone in the entire promotion, very little about the matchmaking seems to make sense for someone of Chimaev's stature as a seemingly sure-fire title contender. In fact, at the time the fight was made, it seemed a vindictive act by the UFC, seeking to punish Diaz as he made media appearances demanding the UFC either book the final fight of his contract or release him outright.

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Chimaev debuted in the UFC on July 16, 2020, submitting John Phillips early in the second round after only absorbing a single strike. He took such little damage that he stepped in for a short-notice fight just 10 days later, taking just over three minutes to stop Rhys McKee in a fight where he did not get hit with a single strike.

A 17-second TKO win over Gerald Meerschaert followed, but Chimaev nearly retired from fighting altogether after a lengthy bout with COVID-19 left him out of action for more than a year. He did return, however, and beat Li Jingliang by first-round submission, again not getting hit with a single shot.

Chimaev's first four opponents landed a single strike combined.

In his most recent outing, Chimaev was finally tested. He went three full rounds with former title challenger Gilbert Burns in a fight where Chimaev had some scary moments but showed quality in making adjustments and outworking Burns for the unanimous decision win. It's the kind of fight that normally leads to more fights with title-contender caliber opposition.

A fight with Diaz, however, doesn't do anything to elevate Chimaev and only presents risk to his status in the division. Anything less than complete dominance would be seen as a disappointment for the native of Russia. And a loss would completely derail his career.

Another bit of bad luck befell Chimaev recently when Leon Edwards scored his dramatic comeback head kick knockout of Kamaru Usman. A win over Diaz would have been enough to line Chimaev up for the next shot at Usman for the welterweight title. Instead, there will almost certainly be a rematch between Edwards and Usman, setting back the timeline on a Chimaev title shot even more and possibly even forcing him to take yet another fight while he waits for the rematch to play out.

Chimaev's situation is not the only time a fighter has been put in something resembling a no-win situation. It is, however, one of the most unique of those situations given how odd it is for a man in line for a title shot to fight an unranked fighter in a pay-per-view headliner.

For Chimaev to truly impress, he may need to dominate Diaz in a way few others have. Anything less and Chimaev's star power may actually take a hit and hurt himself and the promotion as a whole when the time comes to promote his seemingly inevitable shot at becoming champion.