Khamzat Chimaev got the win at UFC 273 but not by following the game plan.
Chimaev is a rising star in the UFC. Since making his debut in the summer of 2020 in Fight Island, he has been turning heads. He is now 5-0 in the UFC and just got his first win over a top-five opponent. His win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 might have put him in a good position for a title shot soon.
If the fight against Burns showed one thing it is that Chimeav can go the distance. It was the first decision victory of his professional career. Some fans and critics believe that his weaknesses may have been exposed in that fight, but his coaches have another theory.
“Of course, I didn’t like the way that he wanted to knock the guy out and show everyone that, ‘Look, I’m just gonna walk through this guy as well.’ We had a game plan,” Chimaev’s coach Andreas Michael told MMA Fighting. “The game plan was that he should just keep it simple… He goes in there and tries to knock the guy’s head off from the first moment, which was not the plan. The plan was to box him, keep the jab going. That’s the way to handle that situation. He did absolutely everything we didn’t work on.”
Following the bout, Chimaev himself was disappointed in his performance. Although he acknowledged that he had made mistakes, he seemed eager to right his wrongs and get back to work.
Chimaev has been asking for a fight with Colby Covington next and although the UFC might be interested in that fight, there are plenty of options available to Chimaev, including recent reports of a potential Chimaev/Nate Diaz pairing.
What did you think of Chimaev’s performance at UFC 273 against Gilbert Burns?
Continue Reading Coach: Chimaev Didn’t Do Anything We Worked On At UFC 273 at MMA News.