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Brazilian jiu-jitsu ace Gilbert Burns is prepared to try and tap out legendary grappler Demian Maia at UFC Brasilia.
As often as not, when two great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners face off in the UFC, their grappling skills tend to cancel each other out. And instead of a thrilling ground battle, fans are treated to an unstructured kickboxing bout.
However, that’s not the fight Gilbert Burns is predicting against Demian Maia this coming Saturday, March 14th. Paired up against the 42-year-old BJJ legend, a man who has never been submitted in 37 professional MMA matches, ‘Durinho’ believes he has the tools to be the first one to finish Maia on the ground.
In an interview with Combate, Burns guaranteed that their fight would hit the ground sooner or later, and pointed out what he believes to be problems with Maia’s cardio that he could take advantage of to score the win.
“Yes, it will go to the ground. You can be sure that there’ll be a little of everything. It’s possible to submit Maia. It’s very possible. When it gets to the end of the first round, the second, the third, he really fades. To be honest, I don’t think anyone he has fought, even those high-level wrestlers, like Usman, Covington, Woodley, Shields, had intentions to finish the fight using jiu-jitsu. I do think there’s a possibility I might submit Demian, and it will be one of the things I will try to do.”
Although Maia is not known for his striking prowess or knockout power, having only one knockdown in his UFC career (and three TKO wins in his entire career), Burns still believes Maia’s stand-up game is not to be taken lightly.
“I can easily analyze Demian’s game. He doesn’t really like to strike, but he can strike. You don’t think he does, but he throws some heat—you could see in his Usman fight. You need to pay attention. Not all of his strikes are hard, but some are. He does his thing, it’s all wrong, but he moves very well and he can mix up his boxing with his takedowns. His hands will bother you.”
“His boxing is centered around his jiu-jitsu.” Gilbert continued. “I can see him doing everything to take the fight to the ground. When it gets there, he’s like a snake, he will smother you, trap you, he will try to take your back. His jiu-jitsu is more technical, slower. The kind of jiu-jitsu I like is faster, more aggressive. It’s like (Ronaldo) Jacare’s, Terere’s, Shaolin’s, those are guys who inspired me and I copied. I had the chance to train with them. My jiu-jitsu is a bit more aggressive and there will definitely be jiu-jitsu in this fight.”
Undefeated since moving up to the welterweight division, Gilbert Burns (17-3) will look for his third straight win in the weight class, and fifth overall with his upcoming co-main event bout. His recent streak includes victories over Gunnar Nelson, Alexey Kunchenko, Mike Davis and Olivier Aubin-Mercier. The 33-year-old’s last loss came in July 2018, when he was knocked out by Dan Hooker.
UFC Fight Night 170 takes place at the Ginasio Nilson Nelson, in Brasilia, Brazil. The card is scheduled to be headlined by a lightweight bout between top contenders Charles Oliveira and Kevin Lee.