Joe Rogan has revealed what people and fighters have learned about Khamzat Chimaev after his UFC 273 victory over Gilbert Burns. Rogan believes Chimaev finally looked human. The podcast host also shared that even though we saw 'Borz' take more hits than he had in any of his previous fights, fans should not begin to underestimate him.
At UFC 273, Gilbert Burns stood across the cage from the hottest prospect in the UFC right now, Khamzat Chimaev. In his four fights before 'Durinho', 'Borz' had only received one significant strike. He also broke the record for the quickest fight turn-around in UFC history. 10 days.
Joe Rogan explained why he believes the fight got people more confident about fighting 'Borz' than they should be:
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"That fight with Gilbert Burns got a lot of people brave. A lot of people were more brave after that fight because he looked human in that fight... The thing that we learned about Khamzat in that fight is that he's not just a hammer. He can take it too. Sometimes a fighter is really good until someone puts pressure on them and then they fold up shop... We saw none of that with Khamzat. Gilbert spun his head around and it would have KO'd 99% of people on the planet. But after being wobbled and dropped, Khamzat immediately grabs a hold of his legs and takes Gilbert down. That's how good he is."
The two fighters put on a Fight of the Night performance that saw Chimaev win via unnaninmous decision. The bout was so good, in fact, that Burns took home a winner's bonus despite losing.
Watch Joe Rogan talk about Khamzat Chimaev here:
Gilbert Burns warns Khamzat Chimaev to stay focused despite his recent success
Gilbert Burns has said Khamzat Chimaev must remain grounded and focused despite his meotiric rise in the UFC. 'Durinho' believes the Chechen-Born Swede is starting to get the wrong people around and that fame may be getting to his head.
In a recent interview with Canal Encarada, Burns shared a story about Khamzat Chimaev's attitude towards him when there were no cameras around:
"There was no camera. The guy was talking bullsh*t there... Then he said to me 'Now we've done the weigh-in. Now the fight will happen... There's nowhere to run for you now.' And I just said, I'll run right through you. But he said that thinking people would laugh. I think he already has so many idiots around him, so many bootlickers that he says some things that aren't funny and the guys laugh."
Burns referred to the phenomenon as the McGregor effect. Suddenly, if a fighter has more money and followers than they have ever had, they could become distracted.
Chimaev is the current No.3-ranked welterweight with only Colby Covington and Leon Edwards ahead of him. 'Borz' has asked for fights against both 'Chaos' and Usman, but there has been no official confirmation of an opponent by the UFC.
Watch Gilbert Burns talk about Chimaev here [Subtitles provided by Brazilian MMA Legends]: