Gilbert Burns knows Khamzat Chimaev will be a tough challenge but he expects to get a highlight-reel finish at UFC 273.
Chimaev has been the talk of the UFC since he picked up two wins in 10 days on Fight Island. He is now set for the toughest test of his career as he will face Burns at UFC 273 in a very intriguing matchup. For Burns, he says he is excited about this fight as it’s a high-risk, high-reward fight.
“The way I see is the risk is very big, you know, but the reward is very big, as well,” Burns said to The Underground. “A lot of people are going to be watching. Dana said – I know that opinion can change, but he said the winner of this fight might get the title shot. So yeah, for sure, it’s worth it to fight this guy.
“Very tough. Young. Hungry. But if not him, I’ll be freaking waiting for another guy to say yes, and let’s say if I beat another guy that’s not Khamzat, if the fight goes like so-so, he’s not giving me the title shot, so for me, I go all-in on this fight,” Burns continued. “If I win, I get another title shot. If I lose, I need to get a couple. That’s a few steps back. Then you’ve got to get another fight, but I go all in. I don’t care.”
Although Gilbert Burns believes it will be a tough fight, he thinks he has all the tools to not only win, but to get a stoppage win over Khamzat Chimaev.
Should Burns gets the spectacular finish he wants, he thinks that should cement him as the top contender and earn him a title shot.
“I do believe it’s going to be a finish, but I might be wrong, you know? It might be a freaking split-decision sh-t, and then we might be able to do another fight, so I don’t like to make a lot of plans because I got frustrated multiple times,” Burns said. “We’ll see. I’m completely focused on the performance, but I do believe a finish, whoever wins I think will be very close to a title shot, but it’s very hard to control these things. You could go out there and get a finish, and Kamaru and Leon Edwards are supposed to be July, and for any reason that fight goes to August or September, I don’t see either me or Khamzat are not going to be waiting that long to fight for a freaking title, so Colby (Covington) is right there. Might be an option.
“It’s a lot of scenarios, so it’s very hard to predict what’s going to happen, so focus on my performance and I think a spectacular, great finish, it makes a big statement, then we go from there. We will see. Maybe title shot, maybe Colby fight, whatever, you know, but that’s too much ahead. We went to focus until April 9,” Burns concluded.
Do you think Gilbert Burns will finish Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273?