Khamzat Chimaev has verbally agreed to rematch Gilbert Burns at UFC 283 in Brazil – assuming the newly crowned middleweight champion, Alex Pereira is not ready to fight by then.
At UFC 273, Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns put on a fight-of-the-year contender, leaving it all in the octagon as they traded blows for the full three rounds. The judges scored the fight for Chimaev, but both men walked away with the crowd’s respect and admiration.
Since that fight, Khamzat Chimaev has fought once, in the co-main event of UFC 279. ‘Borz’ was initially scheduled to take on Nate Diaz, but after missing weight by a significant margin, he would instead face off against Kevin Holland in a catchweight bout. Chimaev put on one of his most clinical performances to date against ‘Trailblazer,’ taking the fight to the mat and quickly submitting him.
During this time, Burns has been unable to find an opponent to face, despite calling out the majority of the welterweight top 10. Jorge Masvidal did recently verbally accept a fight with ‘Durinho,’ claiming he would face the Brazilian on the undercard of Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3.
However, Burns is hoping to feature on the UFC’s return to Brazil in January of 2023. One man who is also hoping to get on that card is Chimaev. ‘Borz’ has been calling for a fight with newly crowned middleweight champion Alex Pereira. However, it seems extremely unlikely that ‘Poatan’ will be ready to fight so soon after his five-round war with Israel Adesanya.
As a result, Chimaev has called for a fight with Burns, stating:
“(Gilbert Burns) if Alex not ready to be killed, let’s go du it again in Brazil 84 kg this time.”
Any weight @KChimaev
https://t.co/xTbBqHn19i
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) November 19, 2022
Burns was quick to respond, stating that he would be happy to fight Khamzat Chimaev at any weight.
UFC Brazil already has a number of exciting fights booked, including a 4th fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno. However, Dana White has stated that the UFC are still filling the card out, and a rematch between ‘Borz’ and ‘Durinho’ would no doubt fit the bill.