Media Gilbert Burns: Fighting Chimaev changed my career, he'll be back at 170 one day

Unheralded Truth

Unheralded Truth

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The former title challenger and seasoned contender thinks fans haven’t seen the last of Chimaev at 170 pounds, despite recent comments from UFC president Dana White that Chimaev is moving up.

“He is a very big name, and he’s going to do whatever he wants to do,” Burns told Danny Segura of Hablemos MMA.

“I like him. He’s a great fighter. He fights very well – but talks a lot. If he’s going to middleweight, then let’s see it.
When he first started, he was like ‘Oh, I’ll fight every weekend against anyone. I’m hungry.’ Now he doesn’t fight and months go by. So if you’re going to move up in weight, then move up in weight."

“I think at middleweight he’ll do well, but those guys are big, like Costa, Poatan and Whittaker. Those are all very good. I think he returns to welterweight eventually. I think he will do one or two,
but then he’s going to see he’s not the bully, the biggest guy there. After that I see him returning to our weight class.”

Burns is getting ready to take on Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC 287 on April 8 in Miami. This is also his third fight since going the distance against Chimaev in an all-out war at UFC 273 in April 2022.

Although he lost to Chimaev, Burns sees the fight as the turning point of his career – at least in the public’s eyes.

“I always knew I had the heart, but I think with that fight fans were able to see ‘Oh, that guy has heart. That guy has balls. He can fight',” Burns said. “Things can change a lot. Fans changed a lot. To this day, people approach me saying ‘I was in there in Jacksonville.’ So yeah, it changed a lot for me. That’s what I always say: I’m here to fight anyone, and I think fans are now giving me credit for that.”

 
The best thing that happened was the seed of doubt planted in Khamzat's head. I believe he thought he was to a large degree untouchable. Looking forward to his MW fights, I think it gets harder from here out.
 
I think Burns showed that Khamzat is rather ordinary. Top level guy but not better than the other top guys. And, he's right that he will have no cakewalk at 185 where he will not have any definitive size advantage fighting against bigger and stronger guys.
 
Goutfather said:
idk why people got so high on khamzat. youd think people would learn to wait until they face top competition before anointing their future goats. but yeah good showing by giblert.
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Burrns was ranked #2 when he faced Khamzat. You just said the #2 ranked WW had a "good showing" in an L.

Wanna know why people are high on Khamzat? B/c you just praised a guy for losing to him and the guy you praised was ranked #2. That's your answer. Fullstop.
 
UFConFOX said:
Burrns was ranked #2 when he faced Khamzat. You just said the #2 ranked WW had a "good showing" in an L.

Wanna know why people are high on Khamzat? B/c you just praised a guy for losing to him and the guy you praised was ranked #2. That's your answer. Fullstop.
Click to expand...

And that was Khamzat's 11th fight and he went straight to the number #2 ranked guy in the division and won.

And everyone patting Burns on the back
 
UFConFOX said:
Burrns was ranked #2 when he faced Khamzat. You just said the #2 ranked WW had a "good showing" in an L.

Wanna know why people are high on Khamzat? B/c you just praised a guy for losing to him and the guy you praised was ranked #2. That's your answer. Fullstop.
Click to expand...
that’s putting too much stock in a number assigned to him by the promotion. does beating the “#2” mean that you would also beat everyone ranked below? of course not. as sophisticated sherdoggers, we are aware that rankings are mainly promotional tools. but khamzat didn’t fight anyone else in the top 10 before fighting gilbert, and consequently we found out a lot of things about hazmat in that fight that we would ordinarily learn from watching him fight his way through the top 10. it’s still an open question that he could survive that gauntlet, after other elite fighters have a chance to study his tape and properly prepare for him.

and then of course we have to look at the fight itself and evaluate factors that went into the result. khamzat is huge (obviously a mw, at least), he didn’t look that good, and he arguably lost the fight. among other things, we learned that his gas tank is suspect. while gilbert is quality competition, stylistically he matches up unfavorably with hazmat, and i think him being #2 was very generous. but i think it’s safe to say he’s at least top 5 in the division. he can handle himself anywhere the fight goes, he’s not woefully deficient anywhere. so really we’re talking about can a talented middleweight wrestler with a hands and a chin beat up a well-rounded top 5 ww who is good not great everywhere. the answer turned out to be a very unenthusiastic “yes.” that’s pretty much as expected.

all im saying is people should watch a fighter get tested against multiple quality opponents before all the goat talk. it’s like when alex pereira got fast tracked to a title, everyone knew he matched up well with izzy, but they were also aware that alex wouldn’t make it through the top 10 if he fought his way up like everyone else. well, same goes for khamzat. he barely slipped by burns. that hardly justified the hype.
 
Burns is a monster and I think with his BJJ was a great test for Khamzat to fight a very tough hard hitting guy. Gilberts stock probably rose more with the loss than Khamzat's with the win, just because we saw it was finally possible for someone to actually challenge him.

It's difficult to find out what the right answer is but Khamzats social media has indicated hes been begging for a fight and not had one signed. Also that they're potentially shelving him until the Abu Dhabi card. He says he's signed fights against Costa, Whittaker and wants Pereira, I think at least Costa is a reasonable request.

Just keep in mind my sources are "just trust me bro" and twitter/instagram.
 
Goutfather said:
all im saying is people should watch a fighter get tested against multiple quality opponents before all the goat talk. it’s like when alex pereira got fast tracked to a title, everyone knew he matched up well with izzy, but they were also aware that alex wouldn’t make it through the top 10 if he fought his way up like everyone else. well, same goes for khamzat. he barely slipped by burns. that hardly justified the hype.
Click to expand...

It's not the same, an unproven striker in MMA will always be more vulnerable than a wrestler.

Khamzat's biggest flaw right now is inactivity. They made a big deal out of him too fast and that hurts him.

He's just a guy who should put on exciting fights, gain experience and improve. He's very green if you consider that most of his experience before UFC is shit, from that point he's closer to the level where someone like Colby was choked by Warlley Alves. Slipping by Burns is a big deal for him.
 
Chagaev said:
It's not the same, an unproven striker in MMA will always be more vulnerable than a wrestler.

Khamzat's biggest flaw right now is inactivity. They made a big deal out of him too fast and that hurts him.

He's just a guy who should put on exciting fights, gain experience and improve. He's very green if you consider that most of his experience before UFC is shit, from that point he's closer to the level where someone like Colby was choked by Warlley Alves. Slipping by Burns is a big deal for him.
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His inactivity doesn't seem to be his doing though. Seems like UFC brass is trying to strategically use him, and holding him back. I don't actually believe that Khamzat woudn't fight if they gave him a willing opponent with a contract to boot.
 
fastone said:
Burns and Khamzat are "ordinary"..
-Sherdog
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I dont t think that is what was said. However, so be it if you do. I think he means, like his bestie, he can look dominant in a division where he has size and even that has limitations when he is put in there with a top contender. However, when he moves up and doesn’t have the size advantage he thinks he’s not going to find the success. I think it’s easy to come to that conclusion. I would just caution that it isn’t always the case. Rumble was much scarier when he fought in weight classes he belonged in. He should’ve buzzsawed Burns based on the hype. He just didn’t.
 
LMAO those are quite the mental gymnastics friend. Your original comment which put you in a bad spot was like 10 words. Then you wrote a thesis instead of just cop to the bad take and write, "damn, ok, fair point."

Before Burns was Leech ranked #11 who he treated like an absolute infant. Just as he did a ranked MW in Kevin Holland. Just as he did a 10 year Vet with 30+ finishes in GM3.

Ultimately, your own words tell the story better than I can -

You praised:
a title challenger
a guy on a 7 fight win streak at WW b4 he lost to Usman
a guy that just 3-0'd another top 5 WW in Wonderboy b4 facing Usman
THE GUY THAT KHAMZAT BEAT.

You're right. Taking a close L for anyone vs Kham is a freaking great performance and it's impressive foresight for you to recognize that and give praise to the loser accordingly :).

Goutfather said:
that’s putting too much stock in a number assigned to him by the promotion. does beating the “#2” mean that you would also beat everyone ranked below? of course not. as sophisticated sherdoggers, we are aware that rankings are mainly promotional tools. but khamzat didn’t fight anyone else in the top 10 before fighting gilbert, and consequently we found out a lot of things about hazmat in that fight that we would ordinarily learn from watching him fight his way through the top 10. it’s still an open question that he could survive that gauntlet, after other elite fighters have a chance to study his tape and properly prepare for him.

and then of course we have to look at the fight itself and evaluate factors that went into the result. khamzat is huge (obviously a mw, at least), he didn’t look that good, and he arguably lost the fight. among other things, we learned that his gas tank is suspect. while gilbert is quality competition, stylistically he matches up unfavorably with hazmat, and i think him being #2 was very generous. but i think it’s safe to say he’s at least top 5 in the division. he can handle himself anywhere the fight goes, he’s not woefully deficient anywhere. so really we’re talking about can a talented middleweight wrestler with a hands and a chin beat up a well-rounded top 5 ww who is good not great everywhere. the answer turned out to be a very unenthusiastic “yes.” that’s pretty much as expected.

all im saying is people should watch a fighter get tested against multiple quality opponents before all the goat talk. it’s like when alex pereira got fast tracked to a title, everyone knew he matched up well with izzy, but they were also aware that alex wouldn’t make it through the top 10 if he fought his way up like everyone else. well, same goes for khamzat. he barely slipped by burns. that hardly justified the hype.
Click to expand...
 
Burns pretty consistently spits the truth. Pretty refreshing to see these days.
 
I thought Burns won. Was pleasantly suprised they gave Chim round 3. Makes for more nice drama.
 
I like Burns, and he's aging really well by MMA standards. His most recent few fights, he still looks prime imo, doesn't seem to have lost a step at all.

I'd love to see him win the title.
 
UFConFOX said:
LMAO those are quite the mental gymnastics friend. Your original comment which put you in a bad spot was like 10 words. Then you wrote a thesis instead of just cop to the bad take and write, "damn, ok, fair point."

Before Burns was Leech ranked #11 who he treated like an absolute infant. Just as he did a ranked MW in Kevin Holland. Just as he did a 10 year Vet with 30+ finishes in GM3.

Ultimately, your own words tell the story better than I can -

You praised:
a title challenger
a guy on a 7 fight win streak at WW b4 he lost to Usman
a guy that just 3-0'd another top 5 WW in Wonderboy b4 facing Usman
THE GUY THAT KHAMZAT BEAT.

You're right. Taking a close L for anyone vs Kham is a freaking great performance and it's impressive foresight for you to recognize that and give praise to the loser accordingly :).
Click to expand...
i didn’t read past your first sentence because i can see you’re getting worked up by our difference of opinion. i didn’t mean for you to take it up the ass so hard. take a xanax and log off friendo.
 
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