Georges St-Pierre thinks Khamzat Chimaev’s war with Gilbert Burns will be a valuable lesson for him.
Chimaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) outlasted Burns (20-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) in an April 9 firefight at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Fla., where both men were swinging for the fences. “Borz,” who ran through his first four opponents in the octagon, was struck over 100 times by Burns, forcing him to dig deep and go to the decision.
While the former UFC welterweight king GSP lauds Chimaev for showing incredible toughness, he doesn’t advise him to fight like that again.
“I think it was a great fight for him,” St-Pierre said in an interview with 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, you 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. 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 game plan, and to become the perfect nemesis for your opponent. You can’t only go there and try to trade blows with someone like this.”
St-Pierre, 40, was known to be one of the most intelligent strategists in the sport, absorbing minimal damage throughout his illustrious career. Chimaev’s head coach Andreas Michael was visibly upset with his star student ditching the game plan, but ultimately, Chimaev got the job done.
As for what’s next for Chimaev? St-Pierre thinks Dana White’s idea of Colby Covington works, but sees plenty of other options for him outside of that one.
“I think it makes sense,” St-Pierre said. “There are a few guys that are very good and I mean there are a lot of options right now. Colby Covington is there, Muhammad is there, there’s Leon Edwards, there’s Kamaru Usman. I heard Conor McGregor is coming back in the mix at welterweight, I don’t know we’ll see.”
