Legacy Fighting Championship is on a roll.
The Texas-based promotion has now signed another top MMA prospect, this time striking potential gold with undefeated lightweight Gilbert Burns.
The signing was first reported by MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz.
Burns (6-0) is 27 years old and began his professional MMA career in 2012. Since that time, he has racked up all six of his victories in the first round, four by submission and two by knockout. Five of his fights took place in his native Brazil; his pro debut happened in the United States.
There was no immediate word on a first Legacy opponent for Burns. The promotion’s current lightweight champion is Carlos Diego Ferreira (9-0), himself an undefeated top prospect in the sport.
Most recently, Burns knocked out Paulo Goncalves Silva in the first round in December under the banner of Brazil’s Coliseu Extreme Fight promotion.
Burns first made a name for himself as a Brazilian jiu-jitsu competitor, and claims plenty of hardware in that discipline. Fans of The Ultimate Fighter may remember Burns as Vitor Belfort‘s grappling coach on the first season of TUF: Brazil.
“Durinho” has long been a star in jiu-jitsu circles. He won a world championship in 2011 and a world no-gi title in 2010.
But it turns out he also has heavy knockout power as well. His striking acumen should only continue to flourish thanks to his affiliation with Florida’s Blackzilians camp, populated with luminaries like Rashad Evans, Belfort and Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez.
Legacy FC currently boasts several top prospects in its ranks. Along with Ferreira and now Burns, former wrestling gold medalist and undefeated flyweight Henry Cejudo, undefeated bantamweight Thomas De Almeida and undefeated MMA fighter and former boxing champion Holly Holm are also all now on the Legacy roster.
Cejudo, Almeida and Holm all were ranked in the top 10 of Bleacher Report’s recent list of the sport’s top overall prospects for 2014.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com