You want to play Kamaru Usman! - Watch Israel Adesanya's frenzied reactions to Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns barnburner
Israel Adesanya was impressed by Khamzat Chimaev's gritty performance against Gilbert Burns at the recently concluded UFC 273 pay-per-view. Burns and Chimaev went to war in a thrilling matchup that won 'Fight of the Night' honors and is a 'Fight of the Year' contender.
After a three-round back-and-forth contest, it was the Russian-born Swede who emerged victorious via unanimous decision. Adesanya watched the fight and was impressed by the performance put on by both Burns and Chimaev. In a recently released video on his YouTube channel, the UFC middleweight champion can be seen reacting to the fight.
'The Last Stylebender' seemed completely engrossed in the bout and applauded both fighters at the end of the riveting contest. Adesanya also referred to Chimaev's title ambitions in the weltwerweight division during the fight. He seemed impressed with his striking skills, conditioning and willingness to indulge in telephone booth striking exchanges with Burns.
"He's [Chimaev is] well conditioned. Even though he's tired he's well, he's good. It's his mindset, yeah, his mind doesn't get tired. Hey, you want to play against Kamaru Usman! Good, that was good shot selection [by Chimaev], that's what Gilbert needs to do, he's showing that right hand too many times down the middle. I like it, even though he's tired, he's throwing, that's the thing, it's not always the smartest thing against certain guys but he's throwing them [regardless]."
Watch the video below:
Khamzat Chimaev believes he'll "smash" Colby Covington's face in potential clash
This was the first decision win of Khamzat Chimaev's entire career thus far. Heading into his most recent fight, Chimaev finished all 10 of his previous opponents inside the cage before running into 'Durinho' at UFC 273. This was also the first time 'Borz' went three rounds in a fight.
Khamzat Chimaev only absorbed 1 significant strike in his 4 UFC fights prior to tonight.
He absorbed 119 significant strikes tonight. https://t.co/7jo74mXKmc
Although he's happy to be able to grind out a victory in the face of adversity, Chimaev seemed a tad bit disappointed about being unable to finish the fight. UFC president Dana White has previously claimed that the undefeated phenom is likely to fight Colby Covington next.
Who wins that? 🤔
Dana White says if Khamzat Chimaev beats Burns, we’ll see him fight Colby Covington next 👀 Who wins that? 🤔 https://t.co/DCSZJhiQNe
Although he was pushed to the limit by Burns, Chimaev's confidence remains high. The 27-year-old still believes he'll knock Covington out in a potential scrap. During the post-fight press conference following UFC 273, he said:
“If that guy don’t call the cops and if Dana White don’t go to jail, I will be happy to come to the fight and smash his face. Of course [I will knock him out]."
Watch the UFC 273 post-fight press conference below: