Getty (L-R) Gilbert Burns meets with Khamzat Chimaev.
UFC star Khamzat Chimaev received a fiery message from an old foe regarding his recent callouts.
Chimaev has been out of action since taking on Kevin Holland in Sep. at UFC 279 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was originally scheduled to make his main event debut against fan favorite Nate Diaz but needed to get his opponents shuffled after missing the nontitle division limit by seven and a half pounds. He ran through Holland in a dominant first-round victory; without absorbing a single significant strike, a feat he recorded for the fourth time in his career.
During the build-up to the fight, ‘Borz’ nearly came to blows with former middleweight title challenger Paulo Costa while training at the UFC Performance Institute. He continued trash-talking Costa following the win but did not show much interest in a contest.
Reigning 185-pound champion Alex Pereira is another name Chimaev has been rallying for since ‘Poatan’s dethroning of former champion Israel Adesanya at UFC 281 last month.
Of the 12 opponents Chimaev has faced, Gilbert Burns proved to be his toughest challenge. He managed to edge Burns out on the judges’ scorecards after a close-fought war at UFC 273.
Burns Says Chimaev Is ‘Talking Nonsense’ About Fighting 2 UFC Stars
‘Durinho’ has been a fan of the Chechen-born Swede since his arrival into the UFC. However, he argued Chimaev is ‘talking nonsense’ about competing against two fellow Brazilians.
“I took him down (Chimaev, at UFC 273), imagine Poatan. If I knocked him down, Poatan’s hand must be very heavy,” Burns told Super Lutas in an interview. “I took him down and he (Chimaev) is talking nonsense with these guys. Poatan’s hand is huge, Borrachinha’s is huge.”
When asked whether the fame got to his head, Burns suggested that Chimaev’s quick rise to fame may be the reason for his change in character.
“It’s not that he (Chimaev) got lost. He didn’t find himself. Things happened too fast for him. With three fights, he was already the guy. At first, I liked it a lot. He challenged and fought. Then he got out of character. Gives up hitting weights, confusion here, there. I like this style, the guy who challenges everyone. There is no bad time”, he concluded.
Chimaev’s Coach Called for a Fight With Pereira
Chimaev’s head coach, Andreas Michael of Allstars Training Center in Sweden, expressed his desire to see Chimaev compete with Pereira next.
“They wanna know. When is ‘Wolf’ coming?” Chimaev said in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel (transcribed by MMA Fighting). “They want to know. Andreas Michael, what do you think about training camp in Dubai?”
“We’re having a good camp here and we’re gonna do it again. We’re going to go to heavyweight,” Michael joked. “Middleweight [is where I really want to see him next]. For the belt. I would like that. That’s an amazing fight [with Alex Pereira]. We can fight at [welterweight] no problem. It’s no problem at all.
“It’s just good preparation and good warning for if we’re gonna go drop down in weight then we need time and it’s done. Not this five weeks or four weeks preparation thing because it’s not doable in that time.”