At UFC 258, Gilbert Burns lost in his first chance at capturing UFC gold. However he has make it clear that is not the last time that he fights Kamaru Usman, and knows exactly how he wants to get back to the title picture.
Heading into the welterweight title fight between former teammates Burns and Usman, many were expecting a great fight. That is exactly what they got too, as the first round saw the champ bounce back from being rocked.
From there, the momentum continued to swing in Usman’s favor, as he repeatedly hurt Gilbert. In the end, the champ would earn his third title defense, by putting the Brazilian away in the third round.
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Gilbert Burns Will Be Back
Despite this setback, Gilbert Burns is not giving up on his title aspirations. Speaking in a recent interview, he made it clear that he was already looking ahead to the next fight, and how he can get back to the title, with a few potential opponents in mind.
“At first, when I got back to the hotel, I was already thinking, ‘OK, I want to fight Colby next,’” Burns said.
“Then Colby is fighting Leon Edwards. ‘OK, give me Michael Chiesa.’ The names were going. Maybe ‘Wonderboy,’ but to be honest, right now I don’t know.
“I just saw Colby and Leon, I don’t think is going to happen. That was the one that should happen. We’ll see. Now I’ve got some time, especially with the whole division laid off like that. It looks Kamaru is going to fight (Jorge) Masvidal.
“Then the number one contender after that fight might be Leon (Edwards), and his next opponent might be ‘Wonderboy’ or Colby. Then I think it’ll be my time, so I still got maybe two fights (to get back to the title).
“I’m going to wait a little bit and see how that thing plays out, but I’m already looking to the next fight. I know I’m not supposed to, but I can not help myself.”
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What Was Different Against Usman
Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman were training partners for a few years, before they squared up in the Octagon. That said, it had been a little more than a year since they last trained together.
Nevertheless, this was still a major talking point heading into this fight, with the promotion being centered on their past as allies. Yet Gilbert says that when the cage door locked, it was a completely different feeling from their sparring sessions.
“For sure that helped a lot in preparation, but when it comes to the fight, I’m going to be throwing 100 percent, and he is too, so we’ve got to watch out for each other,” Burns said.
“I think it played a little bit because we know each other a lot, but we had never sparred 100 percent with small gloves, with no shin pads, no knee pads. This was way different than our training sessions”
Who do you want to see Gilbert Burns fight next? How long will it take for him to get back in the title picture?
