Welterweight standout Ian Garry has made quite a few enemies over the last year, but Gilbert Burns isn’t among them.
For a large chunk of 2023, ‘The Future’ traveled around to different gyms, looking to soak up as much knowledge as possible. Florida-based Kill Cliff FC (formerly Sanford MMA) is where Garry reportedly spent most of his time, training alongside some of the sport’s biggest names, including Kamaru Usman, Michael Chandler, Shavkat Rakhmonov, Vicente Luque, and a host of others.
It was a massive opportunity for the Irishman to gain some valuable experience. Unfortunately, the relationship between Garry and Kill Cliff ended on unfavorable terms, with a lot of the gym’s athletes speaking out about Garry’s consummate unprofessionalism.
However, there is at least one Kill Cliff fighter who is still on good terms with Garry. That being one-time UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns.
Speaking with James Lynch in an exclusive interview with InsideFighting, ‘Durinho’ revealed that he still enjoys Garry’s company and would be happy to share the Octagon with him someday.
“Maybe [I may fight him one day], he’s a good guy, I still like him a lot,” Burns said. “We talk, he called me to corner him [against Geoff Neal], I said bro, I’m not going anywhere until my fight but yeah I think it potentially can happen you know.
“Depends, I see the way my fight with Jack goes and I maybe need one more, maybe not, who knows so we’ll see after March 9 which direction I go but for sure I think that fight can happen in the future.”
Gilbert Burns Returns at UFC 299 Against Streaking Standout Jack Della Maddalena
Coming up short in his last outing against the welterweight division’s top-ranked contender, Burns will look to get back into the win column when he meets Aussie standout Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 on March 9. Burns has won three of his last five, but losses against Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad have kept him out of the title picture thus far.
Meanwhile, Maddalena goes into the contest riding a massive 16-fight win streak dating back to 2016 — including six in a row inside the Octagon. With a split decision win over Kevin Holland in September, Maddalena signaled that he is ready for a step up in competition. He’ll get exactly that inside Miami’s Kaseya Center next month.
Watch the full interview below:
