Photo by Chris Unger/DWCS LLC/Zuffa LLC
Featherweight Herbert Burns is looking forward to his Octagon debut at UFC Raleigh,
Dana White’s Contender Series season three contestant Herbert Burns is now only days away from his Octagon debut at UFC Raleigh. After a triangle choke victory on the show earned the ‘Blaze’ a contract, the younger brother of welterweight contender Gilbert Burns expects to pick up yet another quick submission win on Saturday night.
Paired up against former M-1 Challenge champion Nate Landwehr, a striker with eight knockout wins under his belt, Burns tells Bloody Elbow he predicts another first round submission victory for his record, betting on a safe strategy to avoid making this fight a striking match for too long.
“In theory he has the advantage on the feet. He has some knockout wins, but he doesn’t have knockout power. He’s a brawler. When it comes to technique, I think I’m better than him everywhere. I won’t take many chances, striking is all he has. I’ll play it safe. I’ll take him down and use my jiu-jitsu, then I’ll have an infinite advantage against him. I’ll submit him in the first round.”
Although the bout will be Burns’ UFC debut, the Brazilian has big plans for his future in the Octagon. Now that former featherweight champion Jose Aldo left that division to try his luck at bantamweight, and the once-rising prospect Renato Moicano decided to move up to lightweight, Herbert feels like there is a lack of Brazilian talent at 145. He intends to end that with his arrival.
“I want to raise some pulses in this division. The two best Brazilians at featherweight, Jose Aldo and Renato Moicano are now both moving to different weight classes. Aldo dropped to bantamweight and Moicano, who was up-and-coming, moved up to lightweight. So I want to fill the void that they left.”
Herbert Burns (9-2) currently rides a three-fight winning streak, submission wins over Aibek Nurseit, Luis Gomez and most recently, in August 2019, Darrick Miner at Contender Series. His last loss happened in August 2017, when he dropped a unanimous decision to Magomed Idrisov at One Championship – Kings & Conquerors.
UFC Fight Night 166 is going down in Raleigh, North Carolina, on January 25. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a heavyweight bout between former champion Junior dos Santos and contender Curtis Blaydes.