Khamzat Chimaev Cracks Welterweight Top-3 With UFC 273 Win Over Gilbert Burns
Undefeated welterweight contender, Khamzat Chimaev continues his surge through the official divisional stack off the back of a hard-fought unanimous decision win over one-time title challenger, Gilbert Burns on Saturday – landing at #3 in the rankings this morning.
Khamzat Chimaev, who improved to 11-0 as a professional with his back-and-forth judging win, managed to take both the opening and third round against Niteroi veteran, Burns in Jacksonville, Florida as part of their main card feature.
The victory came as Chimaev’s fifth consecutively under the promotion’s scrutiny since his July 2020 debut – following finishes over John Philips, Rhys McKee, Gerald Meerschaert, and a notable first round submission win over Li Jingliang last October.
Forced the distance for the first time in his professional career, AllStars MMA staple, Khamzat Chimaev, has now officially cracked the top-3 in the division for the first time in his promotional run – landing at #3, with expected next title challenger, Leon Edwards landing at #2 as a result, while the aforenoted, Burns drops to #4.
Khamzat Chimaev has welcomed a title-eliminator with Colby Covington next
In the official pound-for-pound rankings, featherweight kingpin, Alexander Volkanovski replaces middleweight champion, Israel Adesanya in the official #2 slot – sitting just behind welterweight pacesetter, Kamaru Usman.
As a result of Volkanovski’s eye-catching blugeoning of challenger, Chan Sung Jung on Saturday night, the South Korean naitve has dropped from #4 in the rankings, one slot, with recent victor, Calvin Kattar climbing further within the top-5.
In a random shuffle at lightweight, former interim champion, Justin Gaethje has slipped from his #1 perch ahead of his May 7. title challenge against Charles Oliveira – with common-foe, Dustin Poirier promoted to the #1 rank.
A random shuffle has also saw Marcin Tybura move to #9 at heavyweight, despite the cancellation of his UFC 273 clash with Jairzinho Rozenstruik.
Off the back of a close decision win over division staple, Tecia Torres over the course of the weekend, grappling ace, Mackenzie Dern reclaimed her #4 rank at strawweight – as well as moving to #12 in the official pound-for-pound pile.
Amanda Ribas also benefited from a shuffle, replacing Michelle Waterson at #8 in the rankings, following the cancellation of their attempted pairing. Raquel Pennington also debuted in the pound-for-pound ranking at #15 off the back of her impressive judging win over Aspen Ladd. Pennington further moved to #4 at bantamweight, while Ladd drifted to #7.
