The Stockton-based welterweight beat opponents 112-1, throwing three straight shutouts after allowing Phillips to catch him with just one strike in his promotional debut. For good measure, he added four takedowns, five submission attempts and a knockdown, which was actually a knockout.
He spent less than 13 minutes in the Octagon in his first four fights combined, averaging just over three minutes of work per night, leading many to wonder how he would handle a longer fight against a tougher opponent.
In April, Chimaev answered that question, taking on former title challenger Gilbert Burns in a fierce and grueling battle where each man landed more than 100 significant strikes in the three-round affair.
UFC 279 FREE FIGHTS: Tony Ferguson vs. Katsunori Kikuno | Li Jingliang vs. Muslim Salikhov | Khamzat Chimaev vs. Gilbert Burns | Khamzat Chimaev vs. Li Jingliang | Nate Diaz vs. Cowboy Cerrone | Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor
“I could make this fight easy, but I made this fight a dogfight,” he said of the battle with Burns, who earned Fight of the Night honors at UFC 273. “I fought with him (stupidly). Next time I’m going to make him smarter and make it easier.
“Everyone says he defended the takedowns, but I took him down when I wanted to,” he added, annoyed at the suggestion that Burns was able to keep the fight on its feet. “I didn’t want to fight on the ground – I wanted to show my boxing. I said to Dana, ‘I’m going to do the fight with my hands, to make it exciting.’ »
It was an exciting fight, and Saturday’s main event with Diaz could be too.
