Michael Bisping Shares Prediction For Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev: ‘It’s A Rough One’

Former UFC middleweight champion and Hall of Fame inductee, Michael Bisping has shared his thoughts on this weekend’s monstrous welterweight matchup between the #2 ranked, Gilbert Burns and the undefeated #10 rated, Khamzat Chimaev – leaning toward the latter to pull off the biggest victory of his professional career to date.

Michael Bisping, a former undisputed middleweight champion under the promotion’s banner, as well as a Hall of Fame inductee into the promotion’s Modern Wing – has since turned to analyst work as well as color commentary roles with the organization since his 2018 retirement from the sport. 

At the time of publication, online bookmakers have placed Chimaev as a rather sizeable betting favorite over Burns, despite the fact he has only competed inside the Octagon on four separate occasions since his July 2020 promotional debut.

Michael Bisping landed the UFC middleweight title with an infamous rematch win over Luke Rockhold

And according to Bisping, the UFC 273 pairing between the two welterweight standouts is much more difficult to decide upon than lines suggest, however, is siding with the undefeated, 10-0 Chimaev to land the most high-profile victory of his professional tenure to date.

“Khamzat (Chimaev) has the work ethic, the training, he works hard,” Michael Bisping said on his official YouTube channel. “When he spars he dominates anyone in the room. Unbelievable dominant in every single way. Khamzat he’s got the confidence, he has a unique look, people are drawn to him.”

“Gilbert Burns does have knockout power, he does have great training partners,” Michael Bisping continued. “This is a rough one. I’m going to lean towards Khamzat. I’m sorry Gilbert. I know we’re buddies, I know we’re friends so if you see this, I hope you prove me wrong. I do. I do apologize. But you could say I’ve been sold the hype (by Chimaev). I’m just telling you what he (Chimaev) did to Li Jingliang, just blew my mind. It was so impressive.” (Transcribed by BJPENN.com)

Once challenging for undisputed welterweight spoils back in March of last year, Burns suffered a third round knockout loss to reigning champion, Kamaru Usman, however, last time out, rebounded to the winner’s enclosure with a unanimous judging victory over Stephen Thompson at UFC 264 in July.

Improving to 4-0 in the UFC back in October in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Chimaev stopped the above mentioned, Jingliang with a stunning, dominant rear-naked choke win – adding the contender to prior successes against the trio of Gerald Meerschaert, Rhys McKee, and John Philips.