In April, the UFC announced the
biggest match ever. The UFC has announced a welterweight matchup between Khamzat
Chimaev and Gilbert Burns for UFC 273. The winner of the fight will get the
next shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship.
The 170-pound competition had been
in the works for some time but was only recently finalized. The UFC announced
on Saturday that the tournament is now official for its next pay-per-view event
on April 9 in Jacksonville, Florida.
During the UFC 272 main card
broadcast, it was officially announced that Borz would return to action against
Burns, a former title contender. For months, the couple kept going back and
forth on social media, sparking a fight between them.
Speaking to the media during the UFC 272 post fight press conference, Dana White said
that it makes sense for the winner of the Burns- Chimaev Fight to fight for the next title.
Chimaev (10-0) is one of the most
exciting prospects in UFC history. Originally born in Chechnya, now fighting
Sweden, the 27-year-old is 4-0 in the UFC, having lost the first four rounds.
A former amateur wrestler, Chimaev
has so far dominated his UFC competition but has yet to face a top 10 opponent.
He made a splash in his UFC debut in July 2020, when he won two fights in two
different weight classes at 10-day intervals.
Burns (20-4) is a former
welterweight title challenger battling Sanford MMA in Boca Raton, Florida. He
dropped out of the title bid against Kumaro Usman in February 2021 but has
since returned with a decisive victory over Stephen Thompson.
The featherweight title fight
between Alexander Volkanovski and Chan Sung Jung, aka Korean Zombie, is
scheduled for the UFC 273 headline at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
The question is, will Chimaev be able to get the title shot by
beating Burns?
Or will Burns taste defeat to Chimaev for the first time?