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It’s time to get real about Khamzat Chimaev and the other big UFC 273 results in the post-fight takeaways.
What mattered most at UFC 273 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.? Here are a few post-fight musings …
The UFC put on another great show.
The majority of people looking at his fight against Khamzat Chimaev counted Gilbert Burns out before the fighters even walked to the cage.
The majority of people looking at his fight against Khamzat Chimaev counted [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] out before the fighters even walked to the cage.
But Saturday at UFC 273, Burns showed the MMA world – and in particular, Chimaev – that he’s a tough opponent to crack. Burns (20-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) gave Chimaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) by far the biggest test of his career, but dropped a unanimous decision.
Heading into the fight, not only was Chimaev unbeaten, but in his first four UFC fights – all bonus-winning stoppages – he only had absorbed one significant strike.
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Burns gave him plenty more than one significant strike. When his 15 minutes with Burns was done, Chimaev, no doubt, knew he had been in a fight. And he said he appreciated the fact he got tested and had to go the distance to get his hand raised with a trio of 29-28 scores from the judges.
Burns, who recently challenged for the UFC’s welterweight title, now will have to go back to the drawing board and start to climb back up into contention. But on his Instagram stories Sunday, he seemed to be in good spirits – and said he’ll be back to fight soon.
“Thank you everybody for the wishes, everybody for the messages. It was a tough one,” Burns said in English after a series of clips in his native Portuguese. “I mean, I had fun. It wasn’t the result that I wanted. But unfortunately, life’s like that. A lot of work, a lot of discipline, but it is what it is. … (I’m) out, but not for long. I’ll be back another day.”
https://www.instagram.com/stories/gilbert_burns/2813359729874915050
The Chimaev-Burns bout was given Fight of the Night at UFC 273, which took place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. It likely is on the early list of candidates for 2022’s best fight, as well.
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Aljamain Sterling thinks he’s earned a short break. But when he returns, he knows whom he wants to fight.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] thinks he’s earned a short break. But when he returns, he knows whom he wants to fight.
Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) took a split decision from Petr Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) in their UFC 273 co-main event rematch Saturday at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. Sterling got a pair of 48-47 scores; a dissenting judge had it 48-47 for Yan.
The fight was Sterling’s first title defense after he won the bantamweight title in 2021 against Yan by disqualification. In the months since that controversial win, Sterling had to recover from a surgery, and Yan won an interim belt. Sterling’s win at UFC 273 at least didn’t come with a controversial ending – though UFC president Dana White seemed to disagree with the outcome.
Yan called for a third fight with Sterling, but Sterling seems to have his eyes on former champion [autotag]T.J. Dillashaw[/autotag], who has been vocal about wanting to fight him. Dillashaw was cageside for the bout and jaw-jacked back at Sterling when Sterling name-dropped him in his post-fight interview.
“Oh yeah – he’s been a big critic,” Sterling told MMA Junkie at the post-fight news conference. “The guy’s just been nonstop talking about me, talking about my heart, and this, that – the spirit of a fighter. The spirit of a fighter is someone who’s never going to give up, if you ask me. I think I showed that this time. I think I showed that even in my worst night, which was my first performance against Yan. That was a shell of myself, and he couldn’t get me out of there that night, and he wasn’t going to get me out of there this night, either.”
When Dillashaw was bantamweight champion, he dropped to flyweight in January 2019 to fight then-champ Henry Cejudo. He lost the fight in 32 seconds by TKO, then tested positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) and was suspended for two years. Prior to his suspension, Dillashaw voluntarily relinquished the 135-pound belt.
When he returned from suspension in 2021, he took a split decision from Cory Sandhagen back at bantamweight – a division in which he’s won five straight fights, including two knockout title bouts against Cody Garbrandt.
But Sterling said Dillashaw calling him mentally weak is a mistake.
“If anyone’s mentally weak, it’s that guy,” Sterling said. “The guy needed steroids and EPO to catapult his career and even win as many fights as he did in the UFC. His whole UFC tenure is tainted. I can’t wait to punch him in the face. That would be someone I’d enjoy punching. He’s got good skills, but the guy’s a cheat. He’s dirty, and I’d like an opportunity to slap him up and we can figure out who’s No. 1 again.”
Sterling also thinks from a competition standpoint once they get in the cage, he’ll have the edge.
“He wants to stand and trade the whole time, and I think anyone realizes I can stand up and strike, but I don’t need to,” he said. “It’s kind of a silly game to do that the whole time if I have an expertise and I’m so much better in another area over my opponent. If I can exploit that, why not? … It’s an interesting fight. I think it’s a fun fight – the fans are going to have a good time watching that one.
“I think he’s a little small for the weight, and I think I get on his back like that, I think that guy gets out of there. But if I drop those shots on T.J.’s little head, though, I don’t think he’s taking it the way Yan did tonight in that second round. I do that to T.J., I think I get a finish and stop that fight.”
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After a dominant win to defend his featherweight title at UFC 273, Alexander Volkanovski might have his eyes on another division.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – After a dominant win to defend his featherweight title, [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] might have his eyes on another division.
Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) stopped “The Korean Zombie,” Chan Sung Jung (17-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC), with a fourth-round TKO Saturday in the UFC 273 main event. After a pair of title wins over former champion [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag] and one over Brian Ortega, the win over Jung arguably was Volkanovski’s best UFC performance yet.
Volkanovski was the biggest favorite on the card, but while his win may not have been a big surprise from a betting perspective, he thinks what he did and whom he did it to speak volumes about his dominance in the division.
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“I said that’s what I was going to do,” Volkanovski said at the post-fight news conference at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. “I’d been showing everyone – telling everyone all week I’m going to show I’m on another level. I’m raising the bar each time, and you saw that. All these guys can’t touch me. I don’t think anyone’s ever done that to ‘Zombie’ – not like that. It just shows that I am on another level, and the next time I get in there, I’m going to be better again.”
Jung took the fight after Holloway had to pull out of a third scheduled fight with Volkanovski with an injury. Volkanovski took the title from him in December 2019 in a close unanimous decision. They ran it back at UFC 251 in July 2020, and he again one, but with a split call.
After a unanimous decision win over Ortega in which he was in submission trouble on multiple occasions, but fought through it to win, the trilogy fight with Holloway was booked – only to need to be scrapped.
Volkanovski said he’d still take that third fight with the Hawaiian, and that appears to be what the UFC is set on booking. But he also said if there are going to be delays at featherweight, he’d be just as happy moving up to lightweight to test the waters there.
“That’s a fight (with Holloway) I wanted purely for the haters and all that type of stuff,” Volkanovski said. “… Obviously, I want the biggest fights. He showed that that’s probably going to be the biggest fight. So we’ll talk to the team, we’ll see if he wants it, we’ll see if we want it, if the team wants it, if the UFC wants it, and then we’ll make that decision. I’m going to make the right decision for the right reasons.
“I’m in a position where I can do a couple of things, and if this division doesn’t want to sort itself out and they’re all going to sit back and f*cking wait for sh*t, then fine – I’ll move up and fight lightweight. I’m an easy champ to understand: Take that No. 1 spot, you get that shot. If not, let’s move up. I think we’re in a good position to move up, maybe see what happens in this lightweight division title fight, and maybe move up. Because again, I’m showing I’m levels ahead in this (featherweight) division. Maybe we move up.”
Volkanovski started his pro MMA career at welterweight 10 years ago in his native Australia. He moved to lightweight, then featherweight, in 2014. His first UFC fight, which came in front of his home fans in November 2016, was at lightweight – a TKO win over Yusuke Kasuya. But he moved to featherweight a half-year later and has been there ever since.
Not long after Holloway pulled out of the third fight with Volkanovski, and after Jung was booked to take his spot in late January, Holloway said he had been medically cleared to return and offered to be a backup for UFC 273. That made Volkanovski question whether Holloway ever was injured at all, which he later said he regretted saying. From all indications, Holloway is ready to go and likely waiting for a third title fight with Volkanovski to be booked.
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“If Dana White doesn’t go to jail, I’ll be happy to fight, come to the fight, and smash (Colby Covington’s) face.”
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The bottom line is that [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag] doesn’t really care.
At the UFC 273 post-fight news conference backstage at Veterans VyStar Memorial Arena, Chimaev (11-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) led off a large amount of his answers letting reporters know just that.
“I don’t care,” he repeated over and over again.
Among the questions that immediately followed his main card unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns, which earned a Fight of the Night bonus, Chimaev was asked the question ever eager viewer wanted to know the answer to.
What’s next?
For Chimaev the roadmap is clear: smash everyone put in his path. But when it comes to former UFC welterweight title challenger [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), Chimaev took an extra dig. UFC president Dana White had revealed earlier in the week the promotion hoped to pair the two fighters up for a main event matchup on ABC if Chimaev won – which he did.
“I will fight everybody – of course, if (Covington) doesn’t call the cops,” Chimaev told MMA Junkie. “If Dana White doesn’t go to jail, I’ll be happy to fight, come to the fight, and smash his face. … Of course (I’ll finish him).”
Eager to rack up more knockouts and more money along the way, Chimaev recognizes he needs time off after a three-round, back-and-forth battle against one of the planet’s best welterweight fighters. So a timeline for that potential matchup doesn’t really exist yet.
“I don’t know,” Chimaev said. “When I come back, I come back. We go back home to Sweden and get some recovery. Then, (we) train harder and my team can talk about that. … I have more motivation now, because I didn’t finish that guy. I want to finish everybody.”
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Chimaev, 27, defeated John Phillips, Rhys McKee, Gerald Meerschaert, and Li Jingliang prior to his showdown Saturday against Burns. Through 11 professional MMA fights, Chimaev has accumulated 10 finishes. UFC 273 marked the first time he went to the judges’ decision.
Check out Khamzat Chimaev’s full UFC 273 post-fight news conference in the video above.
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The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including for an early Fight of the Year candidate.
The UFC handed out four post-fight bonuses after Saturday’s card, including for an early Fight of the Year candidate.
After UFC 273, four fighters picked up an extra $50,000 for their performances in Jacksonville, Fla. Three others, chosen by fans, were given bonuses in Bitcoin. Check out the winners below.
See the top Twitter reactions to Alexander Volkanovski’s lopsided title defense against Chan Sung Jung in the UFC 273 main event.
[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] continued his promising title reign Saturday when he defended featherweight gold agains [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag] in the UFC 273 main event.
Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) extended his remarkable winning streak to 21 consecutive fights, and registered a third title defense, with a fourth-round TKO victory over “The Korean Zombie” Jung (17-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) in the headlining matchup, which took place at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
Check below for the top Twitter reactions to Volkanovski’s win over Jung at UFC 273.
Referee Herb Dean saw enough when Alexander Volkanovski rocked Chan Sung Jung again and again.
[autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag] showed he was a level above his opposition once again Saturday, when he defeated “The Korean Zombie” [autotag]Chan Sung Jung[/autotag].
In the UFC 273 main event, Volkanovski (24-1 MMA, 11-0 UFC) stopped Jung (17-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) with strikes at 0:45 of Round 4 to retain his featherweight title. The bout took place at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla.
From beginning to end, Volkanovksi showed why he wears the belt. His leg kicks were strong and continually threw Jung off-balance. His boxing was crisp, and dropped and rocked Jung multiple times in the opening three rounds. The damage piled and piled, until it caught referee Herb Dean’s attention at the end of Round 3.
Prior to Round 4, Dean had the cageside physician enter the fighting surface to examine Jung, who was swollen, bleeding and scraped. The doctor gave a quick glance and approval for the fight to continue. However, it didn’t last long thereafter.
Volkanovski rocked Jung with a brutal combination seconds into the round and Dean had seen enough. While he didn’t go down, Jung was wobbled and perhaps the accumulated effect of the strikes added up.
Volk is dominating TKZ
😤 #UFC273 pic.twitter.com/omweZLtL0W— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 10, 2022
Still champ, Volkanovski successfully defended his UFC featherweight title for the third time and extends his winning streak to 21 in the process. His UFC wins include Max Holloway (twice), Brian Ortega, Jose Aldo, and Chad Mendes.
Jung came up short in his second UFC title challenge. His first UFC featherweight title shot came at UFC 163 in August 2013 when he lost to Jose Aldo by TKO due to injury. Nearly nine years later, he finds himself on the heels of another failed attempt. However, “The Korean Zombie” has long maintained his spot at the top of the featherweight division with wins coming over the likes of Dan Ige and Renato Moicano in recent years.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 273 results include:
It seems like Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan are destined to always have controversial fights.
It seems like [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] and [autotag]Petr Yan[/autotag] are destined to always have controversial fights.
In their first bout in 2021, Yan lost the bantamweight title when he hit Sterling with an illegal knee and was disqualified. Conventional wisdom says no one wants to win a championship on a disqualification, but Sterling became the titleholder nonetheless.
Once the two finally got a chance to meet again in the UFC 273 co-main event Saturday, they went the five-round distance. In a close fight, Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) took a split decision from interim champ Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) to unify the belts.
Sterling had stellar frames in Rounds 2 and 3 thanks to takedowns and a lot of ground control. Yan rallied in Rounds 4 and 5. But the split call – a pair of 48-47s for Sterling and a dissenting 48-47 for Yan – means there were close frames.
Take a look at how the judges broke things down.
Afterward, a frustrated Yan said he wants a third fight with Sterling, now the undisputed champion – and a champion who called for a fight with former titleholder T.J. Dillashaw, who was cageside.
“I want a rematch. I want a rematch. I won the first round. I won the second round. Four of five rounds, I won. I want a rematch,” Yan said after the fight.
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