Welterweight contender Gilbert Burns does not mind taking on Khamzat Chimaev during his new title run.
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns will take anybody at the moment, as long as he gets to make a statement while at it. Coming off a dominant, albeit uneventful, win over Stephen Thompson, ‘Durinho’ wants to score some finishes in order to secure a new title shot in the near future.
In an interview with Combate, Burns says he would take on any contender the UFC puts against him, even rising hot prospect Khamzat Chimaev, who has finished all four of his UFC opponents. However, Durinho welcomes the challenge, claiming that not many welterweights want to face him at the moment.
“I’m already in negotiations for my next fight,” Burns said. “A lot of people did not accept (to fight me), so the negotiation has been a little more complicated. I keep watching fights and when somebody in my division is fighting, I go crazy wishing that they would call me out, but nobody does. We’ll see when this next fight comes.”
“We’ve been negotiating, we’re looking at an April slot,” Burns continued. “We’re just trying to establish an opponent. It could be Chimaev. He’s one of the few guys who has accepted and we’re still negotiating. We’ll see. It could be him next.”
In his last outing, Burns defeated ‘Wonderboy’ via unanimous decision, back in July 2021. The victory made the 35-year-old recover from a TKO defeat to champion Kamaru Usman, back in February of the same year.
The loss to the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ marks Durinho’s sole blemish on his record in his last eight outings. During this run, the Brazilian scored wins over some notable names in the division, such as former champ Tyron Woodley and seasoned veteran Demian Maia.