Burns warns Chimaev that camp-hopping and yes-men could cost him UFC gold

Gilbert Burns has identified what he sees as the key flaw threatening Khamzat Chimaev’s path back to UFC gold: a revolving door of coaches and a lack of people willing to tell him hard truths.

Burns, who handed Chimaev one of the toughest nights of his career in their 2022 welterweight bout, is set to share the mat with him again at RAF 13 on September 18 at Watsco Center in Miami — this time in a freestyle wrestling match. Speaking to Red Corner MMA, the Brazilian used the build-up to offer a candid assessment of where Chimaev’s career has gone wrong since that fight.

Chimaev (15-1) is coming off the first professional loss of his career, surrendering the UFC middleweight title to Sean Strickland (31-7). Burns believes the Chechen will return motivated, but warns that instability in his corner could undermine any comeback.

“I think he is gonna be very hungry,” Burns said. “He is still young; he is still fresh. The only thing that I can watch from the outside and say is I don’t like when he’s changing camps, changing coaches too much. When he fought me, he had that solid general. The guy he was with in Sweden. He was doing a great job… When the team was kind of small. I think he was doing better.”

Chimaev previously trained out of Allstars Training Center in Stockholm under head coach Andreas Michael, a setup Burns credits for producing the most dangerous version of “Borz.” Since then, Chimaev has shifted his base to the United Arab Emirates, though longtime jiu-jitsu coach Alan “Finfou” Nascimento remains in his corner.

Burns stopped short of writing Chimaev off, insisting the talent for a historic multi-division run is still there — provided he surrounds himself with the right people.

“He just needs a solid team. Guys that are not yes-men. Guys that are gonna tell him what he has to do,” Burns said. “With a solid team, he can come back and become a champion, maybe two, maybe three-division champion.”

The wrestling match at RAF 13 will give both fighters a chance to settle old scores outside the cage, with their 2022 UFC encounter — a closely contested welterweight fight that Chimaev won by split decision — still fresh in the memory of both men.