Khamzat Chimaev has been told to avoid a UFC title showdown with Kamaru Usman after his UFC 273 victory over Gilbert Burns.
The rising star scored a decision victory over No.2 ranked contender Burns this weekend, and is now likely to face leading contender Colby Covington next. Chimaev was dropped twice en-route to victory, and was made to work hard with Burns managing to land some thunderous shots throughout the meeting.
Former UFC champion Henry Cejudo believes Chimaev could be in "big trouble" if he was to put on a similar display against current 170lb champion Usman. "That was the right call," Cejudo told The Schmo. "But if Chimaev goes out there and fights The Nigerian nightmare like that, he's in big trouble man. We just saw him kind of become human here."
Chimaev has made a remarkable rise in the welterweight division having now won five fights in the UFC after his recent tilt with Burns. 'Borz' started the fight well dropping his opponent with a stiff jab after a good opening period. However he found himself being put down twice in the middle stanza as the pair came to blows in some heavy artillery exchanges.
But the younger fighter managed to re-establish himself in the final round, pushing the pace as his opponent tired in the opposite corner. Chimaev admitted after the tilt that he was too eager to seek a stoppage which played into the hands of the more experienced Burns. “I was too excited to knock him out,” Chimaev explained at the UFC 273 post-fight press conference.
“I was saying to everybody all week I was going to knock him out in one round. I tried to knock him out. That was wrong for me, from the beginning. The guy was tough, I didn’t accept that. From the first second to the last second, I tried to finish him.
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"Next time, I’m going to work to be a little bit smarter. I’m going to smash somebody. It wasn’t something surprising from him, but it was wrong for me. My coach told me all the time, you love to throw down and work more technical. I just want to take his head off. Next time, I’m going to work for that.”
Covington is likely to be next for Chimaev as the American star seeks challenges to re-assert his plans of staging a trilogy with champion Usman. Any victory over Covington could represent an imminent shot at the title for Chimaev however, who could be next in line if the Nigerian defends his title successfully against Leon Edwards.
Usman is set to be out of action until July as he continues his recovery from hand surgery. The Nigerian could potentially evade any incoming challenge from Chimaev as he pursues a boxing fight with Canelo Alvarez.
