"All of a sudden he was human" - Teddy Atlas compares Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns to iconic scene from Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie Predator
All eyes were on the welterweight division when Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns put everything on the line in their three-round classic. The Fight of the Night bonus and big shift in the rankings perfectly encapsulated what was a historic night at UFC 273.
Speaking on his podcast THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas, the renowned boxing trainer compared the battle to one of cinema's most iconic movies, 'Predator':
"There's the scene where they shoot at [the Predator], and it uses camouflage to escape through the trees. They start tracking him down and see a green fluid. His blood. Haha!... Arnold Schwarzenegger looks at his guys and says, 'If it bleeds, we can kill it.'... That kind of sums up the Chimaev-Burns fight. When Burns hurt him, he bled. If he bleeds, we can beat him. And all of a sudden he was human."
There is a reason why Teddy Atlas compared Chimaev to the alien character. Before his fight with Burns, the Chechen-born Swede had finished all four of his previous opponents inside the octagon. Furthermore, 'Borz' walked away with a Performance of the Night bonus in each of them.
If that wasn't impressive enough, after his debut submission victory over John Phillips, 'Borz' broke the record for the quickest turnaround between fights. He stepped back into the octagon just 10 days later and defeated Rhys McKee via TKO in round one.
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Gilbert Burns made Khamzat Chimaev look human
Gilbert Burns was both critiqued and applauded for accepting a fight against someone much lower ranked than himself. Despite the ranking superiority – Burns was ranked No.2 to Chimaev's No.11 – the Brazilian was seemingly up against the impossible.
Four fighters had landed a combined one significant strike against Chimaev before Burns stepped into the octagon with the intimidating welterweight prospect.
Check out the official stats of the fight below:
https://t.co/Sn3i8rma2n
The stats speak for themselves. Despite losing the bout by unanimous decision, 'Durinho' landed 119 significant strikes compared to 108 by Chimaev. He is the first man to take the 27-year-old past the second round and pose a real threat to his unbeaten record.
Did Gilbert Burns show enough holes in Khamzat Chimaev's game, or is the unbeaten Chechen-born fighter ready for an opponent with the pedigree of Colby Covington?
You can watch the full breakdown of the contest with Teddy Atlas here: