"I owe him a complete apology" - Brendan Schaub on underestimating Gilbert Burns before Khamzat Chimaev fight at UFC 273
Brendan Schaub has confessed to owing Gilbert Burns an apology for underestimating him heading into the latter's showdown with Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273. Schaub expected Burns to be "annihilated" by Chimaev at the recently concluded pay-per-view, where the Brazilian lost by a narrow judges' decision.
The TUF alum also lauded Burns for accepting a fight against the No.11-ranked Chimaev, who was reportedly being ducked by several top contenders. Hailing him as one of the two MVPs at UFC 273, Schaub also praised 'Durinho' for not buying into the 'monster' image and reputation of 'Borz' heading into the matchup.
The 39-year-old recently said on The Schaub Show:
"I would say, and myself included, a lot of these MMA experts kind of underappreciated Burns. And I will be the first one to admit, I owe him a complete apology. I thought he was gonna get absolutely annihilated, because I'm on the Khamzat train, I am completely on the Khamzat train, you know this. But the train's going to make some stops along the way... Y'all must have forgot, including me, Burns is a mo****f***ing savage dude."
Watch the latest edition of The Schaub Show below:
Ranked No.2 at 170 pounds, Gilbert Burns was a huge step-up in competition for the surging Khamzat Chimaev. 'Durinho' proved to be Chimaev's toughest fight till date, making 'Borz' go the distance for the first time in his career.
Burns came agonizingly close to winning after an iconic battle that was later awarded the 'Fight of the Night' bonus, with the judges scoring the contest 29-28 unilaterally.
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What did Brendan Schaub say about the Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev bout before UFC 273?
It's no secret that Brendan Schaub is riding the Khamzat Chimaev hype train. Schaub predicted a bad night for Gilbert Burns going into his UFC 273 bout against Chimaev.
The former UFC fighter even claimed that pound-for-pound king and welterweight champion Kamaru Usman might not want to face Chimaev. In an earlier episode of his podcast, Schaub said:
“Nobody wants to fight Khamzat, I don’t think Kamaru Usman does. It’s undeniable, it’s scary and we’re going to get a lot of answers when he fights Gilbert Burns. I have a good idea that that’s not going to go great for Burns. That Khamzat train is coming. I don’t see anybody beating him. I don’t know how much Kamaru Usman has but I don’t know who beats him [Chimaev]. He’d be favored over everybody. That’s what’s scary."
Watch Brendan Schaub give his take on the Gilbert Burns vs. Khamzat Chimaev bout before UFC 273 below: