In the opening round, Khamzat took Gilbert down and was dominating. It looked like a replay of his earlier fights. I remember Rogan said “this looks really bad for Gilbert.” Then Khamzat got up and just started striking. He never went back to the wrestling.
At the time I thought maybe Khamzat is afraid of the Gilbert’s bjj. But after hearing Khamzat’s post fight comments, I think he got ultra focused on KOing Gilbert.
He said himself, that he was obsessed with wanting to just knock him out. You see that with a lot of athletes especially good wrestlers that end up falling in love with their hands and it usually comes back and bite them in the ass when you forget your bread and butter and don’t go to it.
He also said after the fight Burns was a lot stronger than he thought he’d be. He probably felt after the first round wrestling him and holding him down wouldn’t be as easy as he thought
To piggy back he didn’t like the Burns submission attack as well.
He was looking a bit tired. He was surprised that Gilbert was still standing. Good to see Khamzat cop a beating & push through & give his own. Great fight.
That’s the lesson that GSP learned the hard way against Matt Serra. In these striking wars, you’re always a heart beat away from getting KOd yourself.
Pace, understanding of your abilities and when to use them comes with experience. Not everyone reaches that level of understanding but the greats do.