UFC star Khamzat Chimaev recently recalled his performance at UFC 273 when he picked up a win over Gilbert Burns. He has never been closer to a UFC title shot before. His win at the event earned him the number three spot and just one or two fights away from facing the champ in the welterweight division.
Khamzat Chimaev feels ‘sorry’ for UFC 273 performance
However, his success against Burns is coming with some criticism both from outside sources and internally. Chimaev spoke in a behind-the-scenes video about his thoughts on his performance on April 9.
“I feel sorry for my coaches. They work hard with me. I made many mistakes. Go back and watch my fight, like I always do,” Chimaev said via BJPenn.com I will work hard, more energy. I need to be (better) everywhere. Black belt, striking, ground-and-pound, wrestling, grappling, whatever, everything. I will fix everything now. One way I’m happy and one way I’m mad. I’m mad because I couldn’t finish the guy!”
Chimaev’s win over Burns was by unanimous decision. This marked the first time he was not able to finish an opponent in his professional career. Khamzat only has 11 professional fights to his name and just five in the UFC so far, but he has been one of the fastest-rising fighters in the past few years with a lot of hype around him. He knows now since facing his first top-five opponent that he must work on these things he mentioned.
His coaches believe he will learn from these mistakes and just get better. They responded with words of encouragement to him in the video.
“Experience. You have to beat them with being smart, with a strategy,” one coach said.
You can check out the video clip below:
