Khamzat Chimaev is gearing up for his return to the Octagon at UFC 294. He will fight fighter the former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman after Paulo Costa pulled out due to injury. Meanwhile, ‘Borz’ appears to have had a change in his demeanor after fighting Usman’s teammate Gilbert Burns, and we have a few reasons to believe that.

Khamzat Chimaev used to have a wild attitude as he joined the UFC. He even infamously called out every fighter at UFC 267, claiming that they would meet fatal consequences if they stepped up to him inside the Octagon. However, his demeanor has changed as of late after the Gilbert Burns fight. Let us take a look at the reasons behind it.

Gilbert Burns took Khamzat Chimaev to the limit

The Emirati fighter was on the top of the world after defeating Li Jingliang and amassing a 4-fight winning streak. However, his aura of dominance seems to have diminished after he went face-to-face against Gilbert Burns. ‘Borz’ started off the fight in his typical grappling fashion in an attempt to control his opponent. However, ‘Durinho’ was able to avoid his attempts fairly easily. Both men had a pure stand-up battle and traded a lot of shots, knocking each other down multiple times.

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Moreover, Khamzat Chimaev is known for his exceptional wrestling skills. But he could not showcase that against Gilbert Burns. ‘Durinho’ had all the tools to cancel those wrestling moves due to his excellence in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. By the end of the fight, both fighters suffered cuts and bruises. Moreover, Burns gave Chimaev his only decision win in his UFC career so far.

Chimaev’s performance against other opponents compared to his performance against Burns

Khamzat Chimaev started his UFC career with a bang. His first fight saw him dominate John Phillips in the second round via submission. He tapped out ‘The Welsh Wrecking Machine’ with D’Arce choke to seal the victory. Similarly, he continued to register finishes in his next three fights. Moreover, Chimaev finished all those fights in the first round. His second, third, and fourth opponents were Rhys McKee, Gerald Meerschaert, and Li Jingliang, respectively.

But then the reality hit when he faced Gilbert Burns. The tough battle handed Khamzat Chimaev his first decision victory. However, he showcased his dominance in a 1st round finish against Kevin Holland at UFC 279. Although he won a unanimous decision victory over Burns, Chimaev realized where he made the mistake, which he revealed after fighting ‘Durinho’.

Khamzat Chimaev opened up about the biggest mistake he made at UFC 273

During the UFC 273 post-fight press conference, ‘Borz’ came clean about the mistake he made against Gilbert Burns. He claimed to have been excited about knocking out the Brazilian. He had been telling everybody about it. However, he stated that it was not the wisest decision he’s ever made. Chimaev said, “I was saying to everybody all week I was going to knock him out in one round…That was wrong for me, from the beginning.”

The Emirati fighter commended the toughness of Gilbert Burns, claiming that he wasn’t aware of the heart that ‘Durinho’ had. Khamzat Chimaev was only attempting to score the finish in every round. As such, he claimed that he wasn’t being smart, which planned to be in his future bout. “From the first second to the last second, I had to try to finish him, you know? Next time I’m gonna work a little bit smarter,” Chimaev added.

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Khamzat Chimaev also mentioned that his coach keeps telling him to focus on working technically, which he is good at. This was one mistake he made against Gilbert Burns. Thereafter, he asserted to never forget that aspect of fighting ever again. That fight changed his demeanor for good, which he recently showed in an interview with Chael Sonnen.

‘Borz’ showed a different attitude during a face-to-face interview with Kamaru Usman

Khamzat Chimaev and Kamaru Usman joined together for an interview with Chael Sonnen ahead of the UFC 294 fight. Where ‘Borz’ is known to be confident about defeating every opponent who steps up to him, he refrained from giving a prediction for his fight against Usman. Chimaev said, “Can’t give a prediction before the fight. Everyone says gonna do this, gonna do that, and the cage is everything is going a different way now.”

Rather, Khamzat Chimaev stressed the fact that he was trying to stay focused and keeping himself composed ahead of the fight this weekend. He also claimed to have had a change in his mindset as well. “Like Gilbert Burns, I learned a lot of things.. So, I’m in a different mindset for my game now.”

It seems like Khamzat Chimaev is not taking Kamaru Usman lightly. He is a former champion, after all. However, this change in mindset can be credited to the toughest battle of his MMA career against Gilbert Burns. This new mindset could make Chimaev a tough challenge for Usman since he is one of the most dominant fighters that the UFC has ever seen. We will have to wait and see how things pan out on October 21st.

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