The talented Brazilian fighter put the much-favored Chimaev to the test.
One of the most remarkable things about Khamzat Chimaev after his first four UFC appearances was his high punch statistic. According to official UFC records, Khamzat has only been hit very hard once, and it was John Phillips in his UFC debut.
He proved himself to be a great underdog in his fights against McKee, Meerschaert, and Jingliang, where he was able to endure without being hit hard. Burns exceeded many people’s expectations by offering the most resistance yet.
In the first bout, Chimaev endured a “Durinho” match that was extremely difficult. After one significant strike in the opening encounter, Chimaev’s statistics changed dramatically. Burns struck 119 significant hits compared to Khamzat’s 108, for example. “Durinho” scored 141 goals and beat Chimaev by 124 shots overall (141-124).
In the second round alone, Burns delivered as many as 56 significant strikes, and 45 of them landed on Khamzat’s head (a total of 89 significant blows were received by Chimaev in the head). Burns demonstrated that Chimaev is not a machine indestructible. Darren Till provided some photos from the bout, including a “selfie” taken by Khamzat after the bout in the locker room.
Chimaev’s Instagram account also posted a fascinating image of his face, and it’s plain that he didn’t have an easy fight. Burns is in fact the second challenger in the welterweight class, and he proved it today.
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Chimaev’s best quality is his ability to recover quickly from adversity, which has allowed him to bounce back and win some of his bouts. The “bad” news is that he’ll have to continue competing against the greatest fighters in the world (Usman and Covington).
.@KChimaev admits it was “a little bit hard to fight” Gilbert Burns because Burns’ kids came up to him and said, “Ah, you fight my daddy!”
“Sh*t. F*ck. I don’t need that sh*t. I don’t want to fight with some daddy.”
Full #UFC273 post-fight scrum ▶️ https://t.co/ktiN4m3VVf pic.twitter.com/cMsySJhQX1
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) April 10, 2022
