Khamzat Chimaev had quite the fight with Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 on Saturday. There are many people giving their opinions on the fight and former middleweight champion Michael Bisping has given his take on the performance of the Swedish fighter.
Gilbert Burns brought the fight to Khamzat Chimaev and forced the Russian-Swede to show a different facet of his game. UFC 273 was his first time going the distance and Michael Bisping saw that as a good thing.
“Absolutely fantastic,” Bisping said on his YouTube Channel after UFC 273. “I don’t think anyone didn’t enjoy that fight and I think for Khamzat it was such a great fight for his development as a fighter, for his evolution as a fighter…
“Khamzat’s gonna learn and grow from that because he approached that fight — I think Khamzat went into that one a little bit overconfident,” the former UFC champion said. “I’m not saying he rested on his laurels, I’m not saying he was complacent in training camp… but I think he went in there expecting to steamroll Gilbert Burns. He thought he would just go right through him, and you can’t always think that. His history so far, he’s undefeated, and his first [UFC] fights, that’s what he did, he just mangled everybody. There was no fucking opposition, there was no stopping him whatsoever. So history has shown Khamzat that’s what he can do, so he thought that’s what was gonna happen again. That’s why he was sitting on the fence with Darren Till looking like he was waiting for a bus, all calm and collected. But Gilbert Burns came to fight…
“The reason I think that’s good for Khamzat, he’s gonna learn you can’t always just go out there and dominate people the way you think you’re going to. He thought he was gonna walk through him and he went in there with no real game plan. Khamzat’s a much bigger guy, he’s a much longer guy, he’s got way longer arms, way longer reach. He could’ve made that a tougher fight for Gilbert if he’d have just employed a bit of strategy… But he didn’t do that. He just went straight forward, stuck in the pocket, took away his own reach advantage, and threw down, and in a fight like that, anyone can win. Gilbert Burns is extremely powerful so that’s not the smartest thing. So I think he’s gonna learn from that and I think he’s gonna come back better,” the former UFC fighter concluded.
Michael Bisping sees Khamzat Chimaev only getting better after taking on Gilbert Burns at UFC 273. The fight was a big test and it showed that the Swedish fighter truly is the real deal.
“Here’s what Khazmat proved: he can be the hammer and the nail,” Bisping said after UFC 273. “It’s all good going out there and destroying your opposition. Everybody loves that, everybody wants to see that, everybody wants to do that, but the question still remains, ‘Can he take a kicking and keep on ticking?’ Well now we know he can… Some people, when they start hitting adversity, they wilt and they look for a way out, but Khamzat Chimaev isn’t that guy. Khamzat definitely showed last night he can be a hammer and a nail, so he’s got all the ingredients.”
UFC president Dana White said he hopes to book Khamzat Chimaev in a main event fight against Colby Covington. Michael Bisping likes Chimaev's chances should the booking go through.
“I’d probably lean towards Khamzat, which again sounds crazy, but I think the wrestling of Khamzat would nullify for sure Colby’s wrestling,” Bisping said. “So if you take the wrestling out of it, then we’re gonna go to striking. Khamzat has more power, Colby has more output, and that’s what it comes down to. I think Colby would have a gas tank advantage, conditioning goes to Colby. Experience as well, so there’s some stuff there. But wrestling and power goes to Khamzat. So we’ll see.”