Khamzat Chimaev‘s head coach was brutally honest about how he felt about fans and analysts not scoring the fight for his fighter.
Chimaev returns to action in less than a month to fight Nate Diaz at UFC 279 in his first UFC main event. In April, he went to war with former title challenger Gilbert Burns and ended up winning a unanimous decision.
Pricks
After the Burns fight, like always, there was a vocal group of people among the MMA community that thought Burns got robbed of a win because he had a solid round two and was competitive in round three.
Chimaev’s coach, Andreas Michael, thinks those people are pricks.
“A lot of people say that Gilbert burns won, but those are pricks that don’t know what they’re talking about,” Michael told The MacLife recently. “I must say that with all honesty, like, if you know anything about anything, then you say ‘It was a good fight. It was a close fight. But it was a 10-9 in all rounds, I believe.”
Michael defended round two. “For one, Khamzat was blocking most of those shots, which the punch-stats count shots even if you block it. So, [Khamzat] out punched him and he was pressuring him and controlling the cage. So, I don’t want to get involved in all this bullshit. We won the fight like that’s the most important thing.”
So yeah, for the people who thought Burns won – don’t cross Chimaev’s coach.
Clinic > One punch KO
For his upcoming fight at UFC 279, Michael would rather see five rounds of domination of Diaz rather than a one-punch knockout.
“I’m telling you this; I’d rather he’d do a clinic, five rounds. Do a clinic for five rounds- you do a technical clinic on him and just totally dominate. That says more than just a one punch finish, doesn’t it? It shows skill. It shows stamina. He shows that he has the mindset to be able to have patience. It shows like a complete circle,” Michael said. “If you’re one of these guys that like says ‘Oh, shit a one-punch finish. What a great finish.’ That doesn’t mean [anything]. You just hit one guy, and you finished him. That doesn’t show nothing. Nothing.”
Doesn’t mean nothing. Whereas a clinic, that’s a spectacle. You know, outclassing is something that shows a masterpiece. It’s a masterpiece and that’s what I would like him to do. That’s what I would prefer. But I won’t be crying if he stops the fight in the first round or the second. Trust me I won’t be sulking over that.”
Chimaev vs. Diaz goes down September 10 at UFC 279.
