Welterweight Gilbert Burns keeps his options open ahead of his next outing.
Welterweight contender Gilbert Burns does not want to sit on the sidelines for too long. Following a unanimous decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev back in April, ‘Durinho’ is eager to get back on the win column.
In an interview with Ag Fight, the Brazilian explained how a potential bout against Jorge Masvidal in the January Rio de Janeiro card would be ideal. However, Burns is not sure whether or not ‘Gamebred’ would be ready to fight by then.
“This has become such a soap opera, and I’ve been meaning to fight for a while. The only reason why I’m chill is because I know there’s a Rio card in January. Had it not been for that, I’d be asking for a fight like crazy. Since there is that card, I think they’re stalling in order to put me there. They want it to be against Masvidal. They’ve asked the both of us and we’ve accepted it. They tried to book it for November 12, but he said he couldn’t do it, because had just had surgery in his wrist and November was too close. So they pushed it back to December or January, but there’s no contract yet.”
Should Masvidal need more time to recuperate and cannot meet Burns in January, Gilbert says he is willing to take on different opponents. In fact, the Brazilian has multiple options on his mind, as long as he gets to perform in his home country in January.
“If this soap opera continues, let them give me another guy. It doesn’t have to be Masvidal. Any guy who’s coming off a loss wants to win and so do I. If it is Masvidal, it’s going to be cool, because he’s well-known and it’ll generate some buzz. If doesn’t want it, there are people who do. The winner of Muhammad and Brady could be a plan B. That’s a good fight. Geoff Neal has called me out, that’s another option.”
Before the loss to Chimaev, Burns (20-5) scored a unanimous decision victory over Stephen Thompson, back in July 2021. The win made the 36-year-old recover from a TKO defeat in a title fight against the champion Kamaru Usman, in February of the same year.
With no bouts announced yet, the UFC 283 card is expected to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on January 21. The show is expected to be the UFC’s return to the country since March 2020.