Gilbert Burns is explaining why he ‘hopes’ Khamzat Chimaev will remain at welterweight.
It was Gilbert Burns (20-5 MMA) vs Khamzat Chimaev (12-0 MMA) in a welterweight bout at UFC 273 in April of this year at the VuStar Veterans Memorial Arena. ‘Borz’ came out the victor by unanimous decision.
It was at UFC 279 in September of this year that Khamzat was set to battle Nate Diaz (21-13 MMA) in the main event. However, that was not to be as Chimaev missed weight by 7.5 pounds, causing the promotion to make a last-minute shuffle of the top three bouts of the event.
It was following the weight miss that some people have been calling for the Swede to move up to middleweight.
In speaking with ‘MMA Junkie‘ at ‘Kill Cliff Fight Club’, Burns weighed in on why he wants Chimaev to remain at welterweight:
“It doesn’t matter how you start, it matters how you finish. It don’t matter if that guy starts so big, so impressive. It matters how you finish, you know? … I don’t know, the fans might like all the drama; the not making weight, canceling your press conference, a lot of things. It’s hard to feel bad for this guy that’s making a lot of mistakes on just the beginning of his career.”
Continuing Gilbert Burns spoke about advice or lack thereof coming to Khamzat:
“One of the best advice I’ve had is to have guys that give you advice. Like, I have guys that give me advice on money, my parents give me advice on family, I have guys that give me advice on fighting, I have my manager – I have a lot of guys that give me advice in my life. He needs those kind of guys, not just a bunch of crazy fighters that kind of go on his ego and make him go crazy. I think he’s still super young and I hope he changes. Khabib (Nurmagomedov) even said one thing, he needs more Muslims. With that being said, translating that, he needed good guys around him. Like good mentors, guys to help him out, making decisions. I think the guys he has around don’t help him make good decisions.”
When asked about Chimaev staying at welterweight, Burns said:
“I hope so. I know a lot of guys were celebrating that he’s going up. No, I want him to stay at 170. I think he can stay, just got to be disciplined, (but) it’s not just discipline. If you sign a contract and you put your name on it, you sign it, you gotta own it. You gotta be a man.”
Concluding, Gilbert Burns said:
“I think he’s just too young. A lot of hype, a lot of things. … I lost a couple of fights because I had a very bad weight cut, but I still make the weight, you know? I don’t know, he’s just got to man up. Make sure he gets good mentors, good managers, good coaches, and people that gonna tell him the truth and help him be the best he can be, and honor the contract when he signs it.”
‘Durinho’ is not dismissing the idea of another bout with Chimaev in the future.
Do you agree with Gilbert Burns that Khamzat Chimaev should stay at welterweight? Would you like to see a Burns vs Chimaev II?
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