Rising UFC prospect Khamzat Chimaev‘s coach Andreas Michael gave his analysis of the UFC 273 fight against Gilbert Burns.
Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns put on a thrilling show in their narrowly-contested bout at UFC 273. In a fight of the night performance, both men went to war that ultimately saw Chimaev come out on top. ‘Borz’ faced his toughest test going the distance for the first time in his mixed martial arts career.
While the fight was close throughout, Chimaev’s coach Andreas Michael understood he was in for a long night as soon as he saw his fighter go for the takedown in the first round
In an interview with ESPN, coach Michael gives his take on the fight and how Khamzat Chimaev deviated from the game plan.
“His mindset was not what we trained. His mindset was, he’s going to go in there and he’s going to destroy the guy,” said Michael. “Telegraph your punches, you’re swinging, you’re wide, you’re putting everything in every shot. You’re running like a 100-meter tempo but it’s a 3k run.”
Michael believed Khamzat Chimaev would’ve done the job in two rounds if he had stuck to the original game plan of using the jab with a few right hands here and there. “All he needed to do was just use his jab. And sometimes throw the right hand. And I think it would’ve been done in two rounds. Just keep your distance, don’t fall into the shots, don’t get caught with the hooks.”
Khamzat Chimaev calls his performance “embarrassing”
Coach Michael revealed Khamzat Chimaev’s reaction backstage after the fight. He shared how disappointed Chimaev was with his performance and praised Burns for his toughness.
“He threw the game plan out because he promised everyone he was going to knock him out. Backstage, he told me ‘Oh my god, it’s embarrassing. I promised that I was going to knock him out.’ That was the only concern,” said Michael as he continued, “He could’ve done a clinic, I’m being honest. This is not disrespect to Gilbert (Burns).
“The shots that he took, both guys, the shots that they took, my god!”
Going against the instructions of his coach, Chimaev could not manage to look his coach in the eyes, as someone who is a father figure for him. Michael shares the advice he gave after the first round was over.
“When he came back after the first round, I said ‘you’re not going to finish him. Do not go out and look for the finish,’ I said to him but I was calm,” said Michael. “Focus on a stable jab. Stabilize your jab and you’re going to see you don’t need that much power to drop somebody. From going a 100 percent hitting Gilbert (Burns), he just jabbed him and dropped him in the third.
“If he had the patience, he would’ve done the job in an easier manner because no way he lost the fight.”
On being asked about how he would rate the Chechen’s performance on a scale of ten, coach Michael gave him a four in light of everything that he has seen his fighter do in training.