Gilbert
Burns believes Khamzat
Chimaev can become a double champion if he follows one crucial
bit of advice.
Burns gave Chimaev one of the toughest tests of his career when
they collided in 2022 in an
Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight bout. They are now
scheduled to meet in a freestyle wrestling match at RAF 13 on Sept.
18 at Watsco Center in Miami. The Brazilian recently revealed what
he believes is holding Chimaev back in his UFC career.
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Gilbert Burns wants Khamzat Chimaev to find a stable team after
losing the UFC middleweight title
Chimaev (15-1) is coming off his first professional defeat, losing
his middleweight title to Sean
Strickland (31-7). Burns believes “Borz” will come back hungry
and strong. However, “Durinho” doesn’t think Chimaev benefits from
changing coaches and camps frequently.
Chimaev previously trained out of
Allstars Training Center in Stockholm, Sweden. Burns believes
the Chechen was doing better under head coach Andreas Michael at
the renowned gym and claims he can still bounce back and become a
multi-division UFC champ if he settles down with a good team and
has a constant head coach.
“I think he is gonna be very hungry,” Burns told Red Corner MMA.
“He is still young; he is still fresh. The only thing that I can
watch from the outside and say is I don’t like when he’s changing
camps, changing coaches too much. When he fought me, he had that
solid general. The guy he was with in Sweden. He was doing a great
job… When the team was kind of small. I think he was doing better.
So that’s my personal opinion. But I still think he’s gonna bounce
back. He just needs a solid team. Guys that are not yes-men. Guys
that are gonna tell him what he has to do. With a solid team, he
can come back and become a champion, maybe two, maybe
three-division champion.”
While Chimaev still has his longtime jiu-jitsu coach Alan “Finfou”
Nascimento in his corner, the former champ has frequently switched
up his training environment and is now based out of the United Arab
Emirates.
Gilbert
Burns believes Khamzat
Chimaev can bounce back from his lone UFC loss to Sean
Strickland and become a champion again, potentially across two
or three weight classes. However, Burns believes Chimaev needs a
solid team around him and more stability with his coaches.“The… pic.twitter.com/hpRKenTy0f
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
September 17, 2026