A reworked welterweight title matchup between current champion, Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman, and streaking challenger, Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns has reportedly been verbally agreed for UFC 258 on February 13 – with a location or venue for the showcase yet to be determined by the promotion.
Hoping to lock horns at the third time of asking, a pairing between Usman and Burns had been penned for the main event of UFC 251 in July, until Burns was removed from the event in favour of Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal, after he had returned a positive COVID-19 test result.
Targeted for the headliner of the promotion’s final flagship event of the year at UFC 256 on December 12 – Usman was this time forced from the pairing following a niggling injury which required more time to recover from.
According to a report from Combate’s, Raphael Marinho this afternoon, both sides have agreed to meet in February at the UFC 258 pay-per-view event, with the promotion set to send out bout agreements to both Usman and Burns to make the title clash official.
Hoping to score his third straight successful defence of the welterweight throne, Usman had dispatched the above-mentioned, Masvidal via a comfortable unanimous decision win on ‘Fight Island’ in July.
Prior to that, the Sanford MMA mainstay and recent Trevor Wittman mover had taken a fifth-round knockout win over former interim champion, Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington in a heated back-and-forth at UFC 245 in December last.
Earning his clash at undisputed gold, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu ace, Burns headlined UFC Vegas in May, taking a rather one-sided unanimous judging win of his own over former champion, Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley.
The victory marked Burns’ fourth straight win since his return to 170-pounds, and his second win of the year after a UFC Fight Night Brasília knockout win over compatriot, Demian Maia on homesoil in March.