In the toughest fight of his career, Khamzat Chimaev took on Gilbert Burns on the main card of UFC 273.
Without a doubt, Chimaev vs Burns was one of the best fights of this year. Chimaev and Burns went to war for 3 rounds, leaving the crowd in the arena on the edge of their seats. However, Khamzat Chimaev won the fight via unanimous decision.
Chimaev had a good start to the fight and almost finished the fight with TKO. However, Burns showed an insane heart and came back into the fight by punishing Chimaev in the second round. Burns even secured a knockdown to end round 2 and went into the third round with momentum on his side.
However, Chimaev made the necessary adjustment and did enough to win the final round against Burns.
Though Chimaev won the fight many fans believe that judges should have scored the fight in favor of Gilbert Burns. Burns clearly won the second round and the third round was close. But, did Burns do enough to secure the fight?
Well Chimaev’s training partner, Darren Till seems to agree with the judges’ decision. Following the fight, Darren Till talked about the fight and said Chimaev needed this fight in order to get much-needed experience. Till stated:
“Brilliant fight of the night. This is what Khamzat needed. Gilbert Burns is one of the toughest mother f***rs out there. Gilbert brought it tonight. He was the smaller man and it was a great fight. I thought Khamzat won round 1 and 3. He needed this. That’s how you grow from these things.”
Is the Khamzat Chimaev hype train derailed?
Well, we certainly saw that Chimaev is not unbeatable inside the octagon. However, credit has to be given to Chimaev for beating the number 2 ranked welterweight so early in his career.
Going forward he might not be a huge favorite to win over Kamaru Usman. However, he is still a huge threat to Usman’s title reign. Even Dana White was impessed with the war between Chimaev and Burns as he stated:
“It’s one of the best fights I’ve ever seen. It’s one of the coolest fights I’ve ever been to. The place was so loud people were going crazy.”
Talking about Chimaev’s performance, White stated: “When was the last time you saw a guy come out of nowhere then fight a couple of fights and then fight the number 2 ranked guy in the world and win? When you get into the top 5 in UFC it’s no joke man, especially in that division. That division is straight killers. Tonight was the big test for him and he passed that.”
What are your thoughts on Chimaev’s performance against Gilbert Burns?