A big-ticket welterweight matchup could be headed to the Sunshine
State, as Khamzat
Chimaev vs. Gilbert
Burns is in the works for UFC
273.
UFC president Dana White confirmed to
TSN that the promotion is targeting the bout, but it has not
been finalized at this point in time. UFC 273 takes place on April
9 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., and is
headlined by a featherweight title tilt between Alexander
Volkanovski and Chan Sung
Jung.
Chimaev returned after more than a year hiatus at UFC 267, where he
defeated Jingliang
Li via technical submission 3:16 into Round 1 of their
encounter. “Borz” is now 10-0 as a professional, with four finishes
in UFC competition to his credit.
Burns, meanwhile, went 1-1 in 2021. After suffering a third-round
TKO loss to Kamaru
Usman in a welterweight title clash at UFC 258, “Durinho”
rebounded to outpoint Stephen
Thompson at UFC 264 this past July. The 35-year-old Brazilian
has been victorious in seven of his last eight Octagon
appearances.