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Gilbert Burns will face Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273 as the No.2-ranked welterweight seeks to halt the significant hype behind the No.11-ranked Swede. Despite boasting more experience than the 10-0 prospect, the Brazilian comes into the bout as a heavy underdog.
Chimaev’s stock has undoubtedly risen quickly since his octagon debut in July 2020. Since then, ‘Borz’ has racked up four straight wins with four finishes.
The 27-year-old is not the first fighter to become a fast star in the UFC, and Gilbert Burns has drawn comparisons with both Conor McGregor and Sage Northcutt.
"He has the accent that helps a little bit. And he got a couple of good finishes and said good things at the right time. Khabib was getting out. They needed that type of guy – especially the guy that can talk English that can be a character and he did everything very good," the Brazilian told SportsKeeda in an exclusive interview.
"We’ve seen a couple of guys like that. Conor for sure. We saw Sage Northcutt was kind of like that – dude was everywhere until he lost. The hype was kind of that crazy. Especially when the guy got a couple of crazy knockouts and can do crazy flips. It was kind of like that. But I do believe Khamzat Chimaev is very good too," added the former title contender.
Northcutt hasn't competed since he suffered a nasty facial injury in his ONE Championship debut in 2019. The American signed with the Asia-based promotion on the back of a three-fight winning streak in the UFC. 'Super Sage' has been linked with a comeback fight against Shinya Aoki, and according to Chatri Sityodtong, the 26-year-old was offered the chance to fight the Japanese icon at ONE: 'X' last month.
Gilbert Burns does not believe Chimaev hype train stops here
McGregor, Northcutt, Israel Adesanya, and more recently, Paddy Pimblett and Alex Pereira have shown that just a small number of fights can lead to a tremendous amount of hype in the UFC. While Gilbert Burns plans to halt Chimaev's undefeated record at UFC 273, the Sandford MMA star does not believe it will be over for the Brave CF veteran.
"I don't think it's going to come to an end. I think I'm going to beat him... I just think the step up in competition to out of ranks to a Chinese guy that's very good but then going up to the No.2 I think the step will be very big. They will have to kind of slow down a little bit and then build him up. I still believe he's very good and he's going to do good things in the sport - but no on top of me!" said Gilbert Burns.
In true Rocky III fashion, 'Durinho' has been training alongside his friend and former rival, current champion Kamaru Usman. If the 35-year-old can beat Chimaev convincingly, he could be on the path for another crack at welterweight gold, having come up short against 'The Nigerian Nightmare' during their title fight last year.
Watch Gilbert Burns' full interview with Sportskeeda MMA below:
