The UFC duo impressed celebrities, fans and other fighters on social media
Welterweight challengers Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns were the highlight of the season at UFC 273 with two title matches, with their clash being called an instant classic and they deservedly won the Fight of the Night bonus.
Number two ranked welterweight Burns was praised for his willingness to maintain the division’s hottest prospects in number eleven ranked Chimaev, and he gave the Sweden-based Chechen his toughest fight to date before Chimaev won a unanimous decision 29-28, 29-28, 29-28.
The match marked the first time that Chimaev, now 11-0, had been beyond the second round. In the first he injured Burns with a huge right hand but the Brazilian responded with a mixture of calf kicks and counterattacks. Chimaev then tricked the first one by delivering a front kick and shock that dropped his enemy who began to bleed from his head.
In the second, Burns stood strong and floored Chimaev with a left hook that triggered a fight back and forth when Chimaev landed a clever combination on Burns but got his nose bloody by ‘Durinho’.
Burns released Chimaev for the second time to finish Round 2, when Round 3 saw two exhausted men continue to exchange punches. Although Chimaev seemed to be close to finishing the 35-year-old, Burns gained a couple of great rights and held on until death.
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena immediately jumped to its feet last summer to show its appreciation for the two gladiators, with other fighters, celebrities and fans singing their praises online.
“Holy Thousand. What a struggle !!!” beamed Dwayne Johnson on Twitter.
“Respect! Great fight!” said dual lightweight challenger Dustin Poirier, as Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson said, “Wow! What a fight,” adding that he thought Chimaev had taken the fight with his third inning.
After increasing the deal and demanding two more rounds, the former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo asked: “Can we all agree to never sleep on Gilbert Burns again?!?! What a warrior!”
“I go against the odds, I do not care. I will fight someone, it does not matter,” Burns later remarked. “My goal is to become a champion and I have to fight the toughest guys. Every time I’m here I’ll give everything I have. They’ll have to kill me. I won. I’ll not stop.”
After previously ridiculing his opponent for being small after a temporary meeting with a hotel in Jacksonville that led to fight night, and also for crying after his loss of the title challenge against Kamaru Usman in 2021, Chimaev praised Burns.
“[He’s] As a tough guy, I did not know he was so tough, “Chimaev admitted.” The guy comes to the heart of Brazil. Thank you for this fight, Gilbert. I love you, brother, all respect. This is just what I do to work to make money.
“He did three rounds strong. I worked hard for everything. I never stop my training if I’m not injured but that guy was damn good today,” continued Chimaev.
“I’m happy. This stage is what I’ve been waiting for a long time,” Chimaev said. “I wanted 11-0 with 11 finishes. But I love this stage.”
Chimaev offered a rare glimpse of his human side and was later seen checking out Burns, who was lying on a stretcher, and admitted at the press conference after the incident that he was uncomfortable fighting Burns after his children approached him.
“Sh * t. F * ck. I do not need that shit. I do not want to quarrel with any dad,” Chimaev joked.
While asking questions, Chimaev, who also took home $ 30,000 in Bitcoin as part of the UFC’s first ever Fan Bonus of the Night award, showed a willingness to take on the next ranked challenger, Colby Covington.
“I will fight against everyone – of course, if [he] do not call the police, “Chimaev sa to MMA Junkie, citing Covington prosecuting Jorge Masvidal for a sucker punch outside a Miami restaurant.
“If Dana White does not end up in jail, I’ll be happy to fight, get to the fight and crush his face … Of course [I’ll finish him]”, promised Chimaev.
For ‘Borz’, however, there is no rush to get directly back into the octagon, not even for a man who holds the record for the minimum time between matches in just 10 days.
“I do not know,” said Chimaev. “When I come back I will come back. We go home to Sweden and get some recovery. Then, [we] train harder and my team can talk about it. … I have more motivation now, because I did not finish that guy. I want to finish everyone “, he concluded.
UFC President White complimented Chimaev after first calling this year’s Fight of the Year challenger “one of the best” matches he has ever seen.
“It’s one of the coolest games I’ve ever been to,” White said before promising to pay Burns his winning bonus despite losing.
“Think of this,” White began as he moved on to focusing solely on Chimaev. “When was the last time you saw a guy come from nowhere – no one knows who he is, come from nowhere – then the number two ranked guy in the world fights and wins?” he asked.
“When you get into the top 5 in the UFC, it’s no joke man, and especially in it [welterweight] division. That division is straight killers. Tonight was a big test for him and he passed. “
“You can not work out in the gym for what happened tonight,” White stressed. “I’m sure he had a lot of pressure on him this week, a lot of anxiety. Who knows how well he slept last night?”
“I’m sure there was a huge adrenaline rush after the first round,” White posed. “This is shit you can not train for. Either you can do it or you can not do it. He did it with flying colors.”
“He’s human,” White pointed out. “Any*** [that doubted him] do not believe that the child is human. He’s a man, and he’s just beaten the world’s top welterweight in the UFC, with a couple of fights in the UFC. If you do not think he’s the real deal, you’re out of it. “
(RT.com)
Source: sn.dk