The screeching noise you might have heard late Saturday night if you were anywhere near Jacksonville, Fla. was the Khamzat Chimaev hype train slowing its roll. Gilbert Burns was the one who hit the brakes. Burns had been bloodied and crushed in a brutal opening round but he had survived. And as his UFC 273 fight against rising star Chimaev moved into the second round, Burns began to take control.
This was unlike anything we had seen in Chimaev’s first four UFC games. This time he was in a competitive fight. And Chimaev, finally paired with an opponent who could handle his attack and respond in kind, showed he was up to the challenge. After three rounds of back and forth in which every man landed big punches and had big moments, Chimaev received the nods from all three judges (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) to prove something important and lasting.
Chimaev showed he belongs in the Octagon with the elite of the UFC welterweight division. The hype train has found new terrain to chug on.
This victory was very different from the nights of total Chimaev domination that had come before. In each of his previous appearances, the 27-year-old Chechen-born Swede had seemed superhuman as he piled up video game-esque numbers. In his UFC debut, he had a 124-2 lead overall. A 68-0 shutout on his return 10 days later. A 17-second one-punch knockout on his third appearance. Then another striking shutout (58-0) while speaking to UFC President Dana White on the edge of the cage during the fight! Superhuman indeed.
If the PPV is purchased, all fights from UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. Jung can be watched on ESPN+.
• Alexander Volkanovski (c) against Chan Sung Jung
• Aljamain Sterling (c) vs. Petr Yan (ic)
• Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev
• Mackenzie Dern vs. Tecia Torres
• Mark O. Madsen vs. Vinc Pichel
• Ian Garry vs. Darian Weeks
• Anthony Hernandez vs. Josh Fremd
• Aspen Ladd vs. Raquel Pennington
• Mickey Gall versus Mike Malott
• Aleksei Oleinik vs. Jared Vanderaa
• Piera Rodriguez vs. Kay Hansen
• Julio Arce versus Daniel Santos
Check out the full map on ESPN+ PPV
But those performances came against John Phillips, Rhys McKee, Gerald Meerschaert and Li Jingliang. Each of them was a perfectly suited opponent for a fighter new to the UFC, but the only one of them you’ll find in the ranking is Li, who’s in double digits.
Opposite Chimaev on Saturday was a fighter on a whole different level. Burns is a multiple world jiu-jitsu champion, barely a year away from a challenge for the UFC title. At the welterweight division, Burns ranks behind sole champion Kamaru Usman and two-time challenger Colby Covington in both the UFC and ESPN rankings.
For Chimaev, this was no small step forward in the competition. That was a huge leap. And he navigated them with confidence and resilience.
Early on, Chimaev looked set for another impressive defeat. He dropped Burns with a crisp jab in the first round, and from top position on the canvas he dropped nasty punches of intent and elbows, one of which lacerated the Brazilian’s head. But Burns made it to the horn, and by Round 2 he seemed somehow not exhausted but revitalized, his offense flowing. During an exchange of blows near the cage, he dropped Chimaev with his right hand. By this time both men were bleeding and breathing heavily. But both somehow still had enough in them to produce a brutal third round to end a classic match that had the crowd roaring.
While Chimaev’s performance was unexpectedly stunning, the anticipation was surreal. In the weeks leading up to UFC 273, fans and fighters on social media expressed more excitement at seeing Chimaev than any of the champions at the top of the list. And despite Burns’ high credentials and Chimaev’s relative inexperience at a high level, many had no hesitation in predicting a Chimaev victory. Some expected him to make it look easy.
When UFC President Dana White promoted the pay-per-view program on SiriusXM radio, he only spoke a little about Alexander Volkanovski’s main fight featherweight title defense against Chan Sung Jung. He didn’t say a word about the co-major bantamweight title fight between champion Aljamain Sterling and former champion Petr Yan. Instead, White spent much of his time talking about Chimaev, “someone people are very excited about.” White’s own excitement didn’t stop hyping this weekend’s fight either. He even looked ahead to Chimaev’s next, saying if he beat Burns the UFC would look to book him against Covington on a rare network TV show.
Hype has a way of overtaking itself on the rare occasions when athletes show they are driven by the “it” factor. Conor McGregor was touted as a towering star long before he knocked out longtime featherweight champion Jose Aldo in 13 seconds in 2015 – in his seventh UFC fight – to fully live up to his confident tally. Nobody in MMA had been nearly as hyped since, until Chimaev showed up.
But it’s not just the excitement of the fans and the uproar of the promoters behind Chimaev. Despite being only No. 11 in the UFC welterweight rankings, he went into the cage on Saturday as a -550 bet favorite over No. 2 Burns. To put that in perspective, since the UFC rankings began in 2013, according to ESPN Stats & Information, no top five fighter has had a better chance against an opponent outside the top 10 than Burns (+400).
Las Vegas bookmakers don’t get caught up in hype or potential. Chimaev had clearly shown them that he belonged in the top flight.
Saturday was a big night for fighters who proved their worthiness of the exalted place they already hold in the sport. Immediately after Chimaev confirmed his whirlwind of hype, Sterling also found himself in a confirming position, a surreal one for a champion: defending a bantamweight belt that many supporters of MMA believed didn’t signify his supremacy. Thirteen months ago, Sterling became the first fighter in UFC history to win a title via disqualification after Yan hit him with an illegal knee that left Sterling unable to continue.
Between then and this weekend, Sterling had faced a lot of negativity, partly because he was losing the title shot until he won it and partly because a photo was posted to social media showing him working out with the belt hours celebrates after throwing it aside in the Octagon. Why MMA fans would lash out at Sterling for this is unclear. He was the one who was fouled. But the most scathing critics can be the loudest critics.
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Sterling satisfied even the most discerning observers in Saturday’s co-main event, cementing his position at the top of the division by winning his rematch with Yan. It was a split decision, meaning a close fight, but Sterling dominated two rounds and received the nods of two judges in one of the other rounds, all of which were close. It had to feel like the very special title defense. All champions in all divisions are called upon to prove themselves every time – but for Sterling the demand was even greater.
Chimaev’s and Sterling’s wins were followed by featherweight champion Volkanovski’s outright victory in the main event. The champion was adept at picking apart and beating Jung, who continued to trudge forward until referee Herb Dean mercifully stepped in to end the Round 4 brutality. Volkanovski, in his third title defense, has never looked sharper and more confident.
But no one was going to eclipse Chimaev that night – even though Burns was awfully close. Will someone ever steal the show from this guy? If he ends up caged with Covington like the UFC would like, surely Chimaev (11-0) would be a crowd favorite and would the odds makers blow us all away if they agree? And if Chimaev cleared that daunting hurdle, there would be nothing between him and Usman, provided the champion successfully defends against Leon Edwards.
Usman knows what he’s dealing with. He recently helped Burns, who was a training partner before they were opponents last year, prepare for Saturday’s fight. Usman was certainly watching. He knows Chimaev would be a handful. As unthinkable as it may seem for a fighter with just five UFC fights, Khamzat Chimaev seems poised for whatever is to come.