The battle between rising welterweight sensation Chimaev and former world title challenger Gilbert Burns lived up to the war Chimaev had hoped for. So much so that it was named 2022 Fight of the Year. Yet Chimaev still managed to preserve his unblemished record with a hard-fought unanimous decision victory.
Scores were 29-28 across the board for Chimaev, now 11-0. Burns fell to 20-5.
It only took three strikes for Chimaev to get close enough for a takedown, and only a minute in, Burns had already been dragged to the mat. Luckily for Burns, the Brazilian took about 90 seconds to get free, and then the two were back on their feet again. The welterweights exchanged several shots, and with a minute left in the round, a right hand dropped Burns, and while “Durinho” recovered quickly, it was a big moment for Chimaev.
As round two kicked off, Burns’s striking was precise, but Chimaev was equally sharp. They both had their moments, trading blows back and forth. The audience added to the excitement with chants coming together and filling the arena with roars. Two minutes into the round, Burns managed to briefly drop Chimaev and land several heavy shots on him, but Chimaev quickly retaliated with his own barrage of strikes. With less than two minutes remaining, the fight quickly moved to the mat, where Burns used an upkick to get back to his feet. As the round was coming to a close, the bloodied Burns scored another knockdown.
Both fighters were clearly exhausted in the third round, but the pressure was still coming from both sides. The rest of the round followed a similar pattern as they exchanged blow for blow, and Chimaev ultimately got his hand raised.
