Having recently spent 15 minutes in the octagon with Gilbert Burns, Stephen Thompson thinks “Durinho” might struggle with Khamzat Chimaev’s pace.
Burns (19-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) is not currently booked to fight rising UFC star Chimaev (10-0 MMA, 4-0 UFC), but he is one of the few fighters who is open to it. Chimaev has looked nothing short of dominant in his four UFC appearances, having absorbed just one significant strike. But should a fight with Burns materialize, it would be his sternest test to date on paper.
Thompson (16-5-1 MMA, 11-5-1 UFC) lost a unanimous to Burns at UFC 264 where he was predominantly out-grappled. But although Thompson couldn’t really stop Burns’ heavy grappling approach, he sensed he was starting to slow down, which he thinks would be an issue against Chimaev.
“He’s very powerful, very strong,” Thompson told Submission Radio of Burns. “He’s a very strong guy. I felt his power myself whenever he held me down for three rounds pretty much. He was not letting me up. He was a little tired after that, after that round. He looked a little tired.”
He continued, “If they do end up fighting and it’s a five-round fight, (Burns) could possibly tire out. We’ll see how it goes.”
While Thompson sees Burns as a tough opponent for Chimaev, he thinks it’ll take a decorated wrestler to really put him to the test.
“If (Chimaev) goes out there and does work with the guys in the top five, then man, you’ve got to do nothing but, you have to believe him, you’ve got to jump on the train,” Thompson said. “If he goes out there and does work, you’ve got to jump on the train. Right now, he’s just been smashing guys almost effortlessly. And it feels like almost the guys he’s facing are kind of beat before they get out there, right? He’s crushing guys, and he beat everybody in the first round. So, it’s hard to really see his whole arsenal. …
“I think for him to really get tested, it’s gonna have to be somebody like Covington with that wrestling pedigree to really test him, right?. Because he’s really known for his wrestling and his control on the ground, and so is Usman and Colby Covington and these guys. So, not really Gilbert. Gilbert’s more of a jiu-jitsu guy, likes to throw a little bit of boxing, but his wrestling is – it’s pretty good. I mean, he got me down. But still, you look at the top wrestlers in the division with Colby Covington and Usman. So, it may take one of those guys to kind of really show us how good he really is.”