GSP Assesses Chimaev Vs. Burns: ‘You Can’t Fight Like This At The Elite Level’

If Georges St-Pierre critiques your game plan, you should probably start taking some notes.

At the same time, however, “Rush” believes unbeaten rising Welterweight superstar, Khamzat Chimaev most recently picked up a very important victory in the long run. Defeating Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision in a fight of the year candidate at UFC 273 earlier this month (watch highlights), Chimaev threw down in a way fans had never quite seen before.

“I think it was a great fight for him,” St-Pierre told MMA News. “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. 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.”

Against Burns, Chimaev’s total strikes absorbed count far exceeded his prior total of a mere two in four UFC bouts combined as the Brazilian connected on 141 occasions per UFC Stats. The fight was just Chimaev’s fifth in the UFC and 11th of his career overall. Seeing the judges’ scorecards for the first time in all of those outings, Chimaev catapulted himself right into top contendership at 170-pounds as he now awaits his next move.

With Leon Edwards seemingly next in line for the champion, Kamaru Usman, many speculate Colby Covington or Belal Muhammad could be next for “Borz.”