The Takedown | Khamzat Chimaev’s failure to finish Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 is the best thing for his career
- ‘Borz’ defeats former welterweight title challenger by unanimous decision, but fails to find a finish for first time in his career
- Surprising outcome will make the undefeated Chechen-born Swede a more credible challenge to champion Kamaru Usman
Khamzat Chimaev wanted to finish Gilbert Burns at UFC 273, but his failure to do so might have been the best thing for his career.
The 27-year-old Chechen-born Swede met Brazil’s Burns, a former welterweight title challenger, on the event’s main card on Saturday night in Jacksonville, Florida.
The fight was Chimaev’s fifth in the UFC after victories over John Phillips, Rhys McKee, Gerald Meerschaert and Li Jingliang in his first four bouts with the promotion. He won all of those fights by stoppage – two by knockout and two by submission – in less than 15 minutes combined, and also finished all of his fights before arriving in the UFC.
Despite the fact Burns, the UFC’s No 2-ranked welterweight, was far and away the toughest test of Chimaev’s career, the prevailing opinion was that the Russian would keep his finishing streak alive at UFC 273.
But that is not what happened.
Instead, Burns was quick to establish himself as a fighter that deserved far more respect than he was getting, defending Chimaev’s early takedown attempts and responding with cracking leg kicks and punches.
Chimaev cranked up the offence in rounds two and three, and landed plenty of meaningful strikes, but got it as good as he gave it until the final round concluded.