Gilbert Burns is hoping to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Gilbert Burns finally has an opponent for his next fight after ‘Durinho’ revealed in a recent interview with MMA Junkie that he and Jorge Masvidal have ‘verbally agreed’ to fight.
Burns is looking to bounce back from a grueling unanimous decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273 that saw both fighters pick up a $50,000 Fight of the Night bonus after entertaining fans in a wild back-and-forth fight at Jacksonville’s VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena this past April.
Burns doesn’t have a date for his next fight, but the Brazilian hopes to fight Masvidal at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The PPV, scheduled to take place in January, will mark the UFC’s first trip to Brazil in over two years, as the premiere fight promotion hasn’t hosted an event in Brazil since March 2020, pre-pandemic.
“Nothing done yet – a lot of talks about the fight with Masvidal – he verbally agreed. I did too,” Burns said. “They’re just figuring out the date. No date yet. November was too close, … so December or January. At least I know I have an opponent. Just figuring out the date right now.”
“No. 1 would be MSG in November, but then he said no for that date,” Burns said. “Now December or January, I can wait like 20 more days to go to Brazil. I’m looking forward to go to the Brazil card.”
Masvidal, the UFC BMF champ, is desperately looking for a win after losing his last three fights to Kamaru Usman (twice) and Colby Covington. ‘Gamebred’ is currently #9 in the UFC welterweight rankings, whereas Burns is #4.