Alan Finfou can't understand the criticism surrounding Khamzat Chimaev's dominance.
Chimaev (15-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) took Dricus Du Plessis down 12 times and controlled him for over 21 minutes in a lopsided decision win to claim the middleweight title at UFC 319. His performance was dubbed as boring by many.
Chimaev's recent win over Kamaru Usman at UFC 294, where he also leant heavily on his grappling, had it's asterisks in many's eyes. Chimaev's jiu-jitsu coach Finfou explained that while Usman's effort on short notice was impressive, "Borz" had to completely adjust his game plan.
"With the fight with Kamaru Usman, we were preparing for one kind of fighter – it was Paulo Costa," Finfou told MMA Today. "We were doing an entire camp for one type of fighter. A couple of days before the fight, they switch the opposite. We didn't prepare for this, the same way Kamaru wasn't training for (Chimaev) – he wasn't in a camp for a fight. And then people start to say, 'If it would be five rounds.' Bro, this is delusional. We all know this is three rounds – preparation for three rounds.
"OK, we won that way, five rounds, pure dominance (vs. Du Plessis), so now nobody talks about fighting five rounds anymore, but people say that the fight was boring. If Khamzat asked, 'Can I strike?' and then we say 'Yes, go,' we'd just become sloppy, unprofessional and cocky at the wrong moment because the fight wasn't finished. If he got knocked out, you know what everybody would say? 'What an idiot! Why did he change? He was dominating the guy! The coaches let him do this.'"
Usman gave Chimaev one of his toughest tests. The other fighter who was able to push Chimaev to the brink was Gilbert Burns, whom Chimaev predominantly stood and traded with, resulting in a back-and-forth war.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Coach: Calling Khamzat Chimaev's recent wins boring is 'delusional'