Khamzat Chimaev will face a significant step up in competition for his next fight against former welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, but he believes it’s his opponent who is the one who has something to fear ahead of the UFC 273 clash on April 9th.
“He’s said, ‘Maybe we’re going to wrestle, maybe we’re going to grapple, maybe we’re going to come in with strikes.’ He doesn’t know what I’m going to do,” Chimaev said on The MMA Hour show.
“He’s stressed. Now he has big drama in his head [that] he thinks about. When you listen to him, you understand — the guy is done. He said, ‘I have two secret Russian wrestlers.’
“How you f****** learn wrestling in two months, two or three months? Never. In his dreams, he can’t take me down. He knows that. The guys that have been in my gym — like some guys that [also] train there with him, they’ve been in my gym — I don’t know what they told him, but I beat them all and he knows about that. He’s scared.”
Already convinced that he will emerge victorious against Burns, the undefeated Chimaev believes that the win should cement his status as the next title contender at 170lbs.
“I think I have to fight for the title,” Chimaev said. “Who is the next guy out there? Ten fights, 10 finishes. After [the Burns fight], 11 fights, 11 finishes. And what are they going to say? The guy is No. 2 in the rankings. Now they talk about, ‘Oh, you didn’t fight somebody in the rankings.’ Now, if I beat this guy — No. 2 — what are you going to say?”
“I feel [like] I could kill everybody, brother. I am the greatest of all-time, brother. I am the best.”
