Khamzat Chimaev vs Gilbert Burns Fight targeted for April 9

According to the latest reports, UFC’s rising prospect Khamzat Chimaev has agreed to face the former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns at a UFC event that takes place on April 9. Previously the duo was rumoured to face each other in January of 2022 but seems like that fight never got materialized but now the duo has verbally agreed to face each other in April of 2022.

Oh boy! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/kxzc8sJ7iF
— Chris Taylor (@CTaylor_96) January 7, 2022

Khamzat Chimaev made his promotional debut in a middleweight bout against John Phillips, replacing Dusko Todorovic, on July 16, 2020, at UFC on ESPN 13. He won the fight in a convincing fashion via submission in the second round. He then went on to defeat Rhys McKee in the welterweight division at UFC on ESPN 14. He won back-to-back fights in the UFC in a mere 10 days span.

Khamzat Chiamev then went on to knock out Gerald Meerschaert at UFC Fight Night 178 in just 17 seconds of the very first round of the fight. In his last fight, he fought the top UFC welterweight fighter Li Jingliang at UFC 267. Chimaev smashed Li on the ground before submitting him via rear-naked choke in the very first round of the fight.

Gilbert Burns will be the perfect matchup for Khamzat Chimaev considering his grappling and BJJ skills which will be a big test for a wrestler like Chimaev. Gilbert Burns is a former title challenger as he fought Kamaru Usman for the belt but lost the fight via TKO in the third round. He is coming off a decision win over top-ranked Stephen Thompson. Burns in his latest interview revealed that a fight with Khamzat could be next as many fighters are turning him down.

“I’m already in negotiations for my next fight,” Burns said. “A lot of people did not accept (to fight me), so the negotiation has been a little more complicated. I keep watching fights and when somebody in my division is fighting, I go crazy wishing that they would call me out, but nobody does. We’ll see when this next fight comes.”

“We’ve been negotiating, we’re looking at an April slot,” Burns continued. “We’re just trying to establish an opponent. It could be Khamzat Chimaev. He’s one of the few guys who has accepted and we’re still negotiating. We’ll see. It could be him next.”