We are witnessing a transitional period in the MMA. Khamzat and Khabib are most probably the biggest examples of this transition. In general, these Chechnyan fighters come from a tough country, and tough countries – create tough men.
The Chechen-born Khamzat Chimaev is as brutal and as fierce as a person can be. Dana White himself said – “He is special. I’ve been in this game my whole life and I’ve never seen anything like him. He is special, he is different.”
Did Khamzat Chimaev Prove Himself, Or Disappointed The Public By Not Winning By Submission Or KO?
On why he thinks that he will be successful Dana White said – “I think when you’re a fight fan, a guy like this, is the type of guy that you love to watch and follow, and even hate!”
One really exceptional fact about Khamzat Chimaev is that until this fight, he received fewer hits than he has victories. The Chechnyan has been hit two times and he already had 4 victories in the UFC. If this is not an indicator of his abilities I don’t know what is.
The Brazilian Gilbert Burns on the other hand is a world champion, a Jiu-Jitsu guy, a top-of-the-food-chain MMA fighter who has beaten many skilled and powerful fighters like Damian Maia, Tyron Woodley, Mike Davis, Stephen Thompson, and the list goes on.
We’ve all been more excited about this fight than the main event of the UFC 273. We had really big expectations from both fighters, however, we were in general more interested to see whether the “don’t-receive-hit policy” of Khamzat Chimaev will be continued.
As we all expected the Chechnyan guy went for wrestling directly. He tried to bring Gilbert Burns down immediately, but being a top Jiu-Jitsu fighter, Gilbert did not go down so easily.
Chimaev did prove his boxing skills in this match. He held his ground and gave and received many blows.
In the first round, he had the lead and landed a greater percentage of successful hits than his opponent. It is safe to say that at the last minute of the first round we knew the outcome. Chimaevs’ giant right jab brought the Brazilian down and got him split open badly.
Round two started and continued aggressively, both received and gave, but in the end, it was judged in Gilberts’ favor. The highlight of the round was definitely the knockdown that Gilbert Burns delivered by his powerful left and the leg blow that followed to Chimaevs chest.
According to the judges, Khamzat Chimaev won the first and the third round and Gilbert Burns won the second one.
Did ‘the craziest fight ever’ receive a fair judgment? We expected more from Chimaev.
Critics are not silent about this fight. Terrance McKinney, the lightweight fighter said ‘Gilbert won that fight, f*** what you heard!’
‘I was too obsessed with knocking out Gilbert Burns. I’ll be smarter next time’ – Chimaev on the post-fight interview. What I can suggest to him is – Yes, please be smarter and do not underestimate your opponents.
If you look at the official stats of the fight on ufcstats.com, Gilbert Burns outstroke Khamzat Chimaev 119-108, and both of them had similar ground fight grades. So yes, details were deciding on the outcome of the fight.
Chimaev was better in the takedowns, as expected, and for a greater amount of the time he had control over the complete situation. Gilbert was better in striking, by landed shots and attempts as well. About that fair judgment. Yeah, it was correct – It was evident that Chimaev was better than Burns, but not by much.
This was a lesson for him that no win in the UFC comes easy. He needs to work for it. And he needs to work for it harder each time.
