Getty Paul Felder attends the 11th annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards at Palms Casino Resort on July 3, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Paul Felder, retired lightweight fighter and UFC color commentator, worked Octagonside during UFC 273 and he praised Khamzat Chimaev’s fight with Gilbert Burns.
The two welterweights scrapped during the card’s featured bout, and the fight lived up to the hype in terms of entertainment. Although many thought “Borz” would have his way with Burns, that was not the case.
It was a back-and-forth war in which both combatants hurt and dropped the other. The contest went all three rounds and the judges awarded Chimaev the win via unanimous decision.
As mentioned, Felder commentated during the April 9th event in Jacksonville, Florida, alongside fellow color analyst Joe Rogan and play-by-play commentator Jon Anik.
Felder appeared on the “Throwing Down” podcast a few days later and he gave his thoughts on the all-time classic battle. In short, Felder views it as possibly the greatest experience he’s had commentating on a fight.
“Gilbert Burns and Khamzat Chimaev is probably the most insane, awesome, fun experience I’ve ever had calling a fight,” Felder said via Middle Easy. “That was everything that I had hoped for in a matchup.”
Although two championship bouts topped the UFC 273 bill, a lot of the focus going into fight night was on Chimaev vs. Burns. As Felder pointed out, Borz was still a massive mystery to fans and analysts alike, and his tilt with “Durinho” was the way to give answers to the MMA community, specifically about how good Chimaev actually is.
“When everybody asked me about 273, I was obviously excited for Volkanovski and Zombie. I’m a huge Zombie fan,” Felder continued. “And obviously I like Aljamain Sterling, and I think Petr Yan’s one of the baddest dudes on the planet, but that [Chimaev] fight, everybody wanted answers to how good is Khamzat.”
“Is he really all this and a bag of chips? I think Khamzat is all that. Maybe he’s not yet the bag of chips quite yet.”
Felder Praised Burns for Taking the Fight & His Performance at UFC 273
Burns took a major risk by fighting Chimaev. He was firmly established as the No. 2 welterweight in the world, but he decided to put his ranking on the line against someone not even rated in the top 10.
The fact that Durinho took the fight, coupled with his showing at UFC 273, makes “The Irish Dragon” see Burns as “probably the baddest dude ever.”
“Gilbert Burns is probably the baddest dude ever,” Felder continued. “He knew he was in for that kind of fight. You could tell on the way he walked in the cage, the way he was taking those deep breaths… this is gonna be insane.
“And man, he almost got him out of there a couple times. He landed some, some big shots. That was a super close fight. Some people are still arguing today that it should have gone to Gilbert. I don’t know, it was so close.”
Chimaev Is Now a Top-Five 170 Pounder
The official UFC rankings updated on Tuesday, and Chimaev is now in the top five of 170 pounds. Borz is sitting at No. 3 in the division, pushing Burns down to No. 4 and Leon Edwards up to No. 2.
What’s next for Chimaev and Burns? It’s unclear, however UFC president Dana White is aiming to have Borz fight No. 1 Colby Covington next.