More than four years after their “Fight of the Night” battle at UFC 273, former UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev and one-time UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns will finally run it back on the RAF wrestling mats for RAF 13 on Fri. night (Sept. 18, 2026) at Watsco Center on the University of Miami campus in Coral Gables, Florida.
Chimaev, 32, is a three-time Swedish national freestyle wrestling champion and a former medalist in the Russian junior national championships. As for Burns,
who turned 40 back in July, his wrestling has been limited to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) and submission grappling tournaments, putting him at a marked disadvantage for this Friday night’s rematch.
“For sure he’s a better wrestler, you can say that,” Burns told MMA Junkie. “He’s competed many more times than me. He’s a bigger guy, but the heart and the cardio, I think I can be in front of him. That’s my goal: to frustrate him, get my good entrances, get him freaking tired. That’s my goal. Get him freaking tired, look at him, and be like, ‘I know what you’re feeling. Let’s go.’ The way I look back at our fight, and the Strickland fight, he hates to get tired. That’s what I think. My goal is to try to put him there and see how he feels. He’s very strong, very long. I know there are a couple of things [his past opponents] did wrong that I’m not going to do.”
Chimaev won their initial go-round by way of split decision and eventually jumped to the middleweight division, where he remains a top title contender. As for Burns, his career took a nosedive the following year and “Durinho” was forced to retire after five straight losses — three of which ended by way of knockout. The Brazilian recently resurfaced for UFC BJJ last June.
“Borz” was back on the RAF mats against former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley for RAF Moscow earlier this month in Russia, demolishing “The Chosen One” in under two minutes and pushing his RAF record to 2-0 with two pins. Also going head-to-head at RAF 13 are UFC welterweight rivals Belal Muhammad and RAF Crossover Champion Colby Covington.
