Gilbert Burns has walked back his controversial take on Belal Muhammad’s potential Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight title shot.
UFC 300 was looking like it might be the landing spot for a would-be Leon Edwards vs. Muhammad title fight rematch. Instead, the champion, Edwards, was reportedly offered three challenger options not named Muhammad. While none of the match ups came to fruition, it left the community and Muhammad scratching their collective heads.
Muhammad’s last opponent, Burns, wasn’t upset by the report, however. “Durinho” recently stated how he didn’t believe his successor was deserving of a title shot despite Muhammad’s 10-fight unbeaten streak and unanimous decision win over Burns. Ultimately, it was more of an emotional response from the Brazilian as he apologized to “Remember the Name” today (Mon., March 4, 2024).
“I think Belal Muhammad deserves to fight for the title. For the numbers,” Burns told Renato Moicano. “The guy has a crazy winning streak. 10 fights, I don’t know. I think he deserves [it].
“To be honest, I just have something that I’m like, ‘That guy beat me. I got hurt,’ then he was talking so much,” he continued. “But I shouldn’t have said it the way I did. I apologize. I think he does deserve the title shot even though I don’t like the guy very much.”
As Muhammad waits for an Edwards rematch, Burns plans to rebound with a win over the rising contender, Jack Della Maddalena, at UFC 299 this weekend (Sat., March 9, 2024). If Muhammad gets his wish, Burns still hopes he does well regardless of his personal feelings.
“I lost to the guy, I was injured,” Burns said. “ He was kind of like, ‘Oh, I beat Gilbert Burns this way.’ I don’t hate anyone. I just don’t like him very much because he was saying too much, but I wish the guy the best.”
Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 299 fight card right here, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET (simulcast on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET), before the pay-per-view (PPV) main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).
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