Georges St-Pierre thinks it was a good thing that Khamzat Chimaev didn’t run through Gilbert Burns at UFC 273.
Why? Because the undefeated Chechen simply can’t afford to fight like that at the highest level.
St-Pierre, as a former UFC two-division champion, would know. He’s one of the greatest fighters, and tacticians, to ever grace the Octagon. That’s why ‘Rush’ has advised ‘Borz’ to fight smarter going forward because he’s not going to be able to defeat Colby Covington or Kamaru Usman without a gameplan.
“I think it was a great fight for him,” St-Pierre, who was interviewed by MMA News, said of Chimaev’s Fight of the Night victory over Burns (h/t MMA Mania). “He needed this because he went through everybody a little bit like butter. You need some adversity sometimes and in the adversity, you get better and improve. So I think it was a good fight for him.”
“It’s not good to get hit in the head,” he added. “I like to watch him fight but I don’t think he fought the smartest fight,” he continued. “I think he could have made it easier for himself. He’s just used to going through everybody like this but you can’t fight like this at the elite level. You need to prepare, to gameplan and to become the perfect nemesis for your opponent. You can’t always go in there and try to trade blows with someone like this.”
Chimaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) is somewhat disappointed with his performance at UFC 273 but is happy that he got the win, admitting that he made ‘many mistakes’ and left too many openings. The surging welterweight has vowed to ‘fix everything’ before he returns to the Octagon for his next fight.
“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. I will work hard, more energy. I need to be, 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,” continued Chimaev. “I’m mad because I couldn’t finish the guy.”
