Khamzat Chimaev Reacts to his War with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273, Teddy Atlas Hits the Nail on Its Head in Analysis
Khamzat Chimaev shared his thoughts on the closely battled war with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 in what is evidently his first narrow win.
During the build-up to the fight, opinions were divided into two camps, one believed Chimaev to do what he had been doing, which is total domination. The other side opined that Burns will surely derail the hype train of the Chechen-born Swede.
Ultimately, what we witnessed at UFC 273 this past Saturday was an absolute war that saw the super-favorite ‘Borz’ get the unanimous decision win by the skin of his teeth. Both men had their moments inside the octagon as Burns proved to be Chimaev’s toughest test so far.
Speaking with UFC after the fight, Khamzat Chimaev gave his analysis of his performance and the fight.
“No, I did not expect it. I was trying to like — I was so excited for the fight. ‘He’s number two-ranked, I’m gonna take his whole head off.’ That’s why it wasn’t that good. My coach was — you can see in the middle of the round, he just came back, he said, ‘What are you doing? Work like we do.’ It wasn’t my best because I wanted to take his whole head off but you learn, ya know? I’m just going to war and dropped him, he dropped me and I came up and showed my heart. You learn a lot of things from these fights and I’m happy for that.” (transcribed by BJPenn.com)
Teddy Atlas Hit The Nail On Its Head
American boxing trainer and fight commentator Teddy Atlas was spot on with his tweet at the end of the second round. He has been around many boxing legends and has strong convictions about what makes a fighter. While we all saw Chimaev dominate his way before this fight, few talked about the heart he displayed after being knocked down and battling his way to victory.
Atlas attested to his deep analytical abilities with the tweet stating:
“We know what Chimaev has on the outside (talent) now we find out what’s on inside!! #UFC273”
What’s Next For Khamzat Chimaev?
During the fight week ahead of UFC 273, company president Dana White suggested the possibility of Khamzat Chimaev facing Colby Covington in his next fight should he dispatch Gilbert Burns, which he did. Now that he got the win over his toughest challenge yet, a showdown between the ‘Borz’ and ‘Chaos’ looks likely as White talked up the ‘big fight’ in the post-fight presser.
Chimaev was asked about his thoughts on possibly facing Covington to which he said, “I don’t care. I said, everybody. I’ll fight everybody.
“If that guy [Covington] don’t call the cops and Dana White doesn’t go to jail, I will be happy for the fight. I’ll come to the fight, and I’ll smash his face.”
With the 10th Annual UFC International Fight Week slated to take over Las Vegas this June 27 to July 3, a super fight between welterweight top contender Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev, who just took out the second-ranked contender will make for a perfect showing during the event.
