Gilbert Burns and Khamzat Chimaev will fight on the UFC 273 card, which featherweight champ Alexander “The Great” Volkanovski headlines. Volkanovski is primarily focused on defending his 145 pound title against Chan Sung Jung, but he’s got a serious prediction for the welterweights, and Gilbert Burns won’t like it.
Volkanovski told James Lynch that he expects a one-sided win for Khamzat on April 9, one that will set him up for a run at welterweight king Kamaru Usman.
Volkanovski: “I’m expecting Chimaev to go out there and dominate”
“Obviously he’s got a lot of hype. So, people that don’t really know the sport are expecting him to win but people that really do know the sport are probably – ‘Yeah Burns on the ground, you know world champion’.
They’ll be surprised if Chimaev goes out there and just mauls him, and I feel like that’s what gonna happen. I feel like that is where Chimaev is at right now. I think he is actually gonna go out there and show some dominant performance which is gonna be pretty incredible against someone like Burns.
“If he goes out there and does that – I think he’s the real deal, but that’ll really make everyone be like, ‘Oh damn, this guy is the real deal.’ So that’s what I’m expecting. I’m expecting Chimaev to go out there and dominate and it’s no easy task, but I’m just saying that’s how good I think that Chimaev is.”
Gilbert Burns is the world’s number two ranked welterweight, and although Khamzat is currently 10-0 in his undefeated welterweight career, a win over Burns would surely catapult him to stardom.
Before his time in the UFC, Gilbert Burns was a world-beating grappler. He is a three-time BJJ world champion, and World Cup gold medalist both in and out of the gi. Eight of Gilbert Burns’ 20 MMA wins came via submission. Khamzat himself is no slouch, however, with a brutally efficient fighting style that capitalizes on his standing wrestling pedigree to deliver ground-and-pound or submissions from top position.
This led Khamzat to six knockout wins and four submissions, including his most recent rear naked choke victory over Li Jingliang.
While Gilbert Burns’ ranking puts him in line for another title shot – he last lost to Kamaru Usman in February last year, via third-round TKO – Khamzat jumping from the #11 spot in the welterweight rankings straight into a title charge seems less likely. Do you agree with Alexander Volkanovski? Let us know in the comments.
