Gilbert Burns | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns Set For UFC 258

Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns will finally share the Octagon with one another. Usman was supposed to defend his welterweight title against Burns at UFC 251, but the challenger tested positive for COVID-19. They were then supposed to fight at UFC 256 b…

Gilbert Burns Believes There Are Many ‘Bad Matchups’ For Jon Jones At Heavyweight

Gilbert Burns believes Jon Jones is making a mistake with his move up to heavyweight. Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut later this year with the UFC planning on him facing the winner of the Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou rematch which is slated for March. Burns notably believes Ngannou will emerge victorious […]

Gilbert Burns believes Jon Jones is making a mistake with his move up to heavyweight.

Jones is expected to make his heavyweight debut later this year with the UFC planning on him facing the winner of the Stipe Miocic vs. Francis Ngannou rematch which is slated for March.

Burns notably believes Ngannou will emerge victorious over Miocic which would set up a highly-anticipated meeting with Jones. However, the Brazilian doesn’t seem to think Jones stands a chance against “The Predator” as he wonders how the longtime light heavyweight champion would deal with the effects of a potential knockout defeat.

“Jon Jones at heavyweight — me? I don’t like that so much,” Burns said on his YouTube channel (via Middle Easy). “When you have a guy like Francis Ngannou in the heavyweight division, I don’t know. I don’t see an easy path for Jon Jones in the heavyweight division. Or he has to fight Stipe if he Stipe beats Ngannou, Stipe is fighting Jon Jones. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. I think Ngannou is going to defeat Stipe and Ngannou will fight Jon Jones. And I don’t like that fight.

“… I don’t like the what if but what if Jon Jones goes against Francis Ngannou and he’s [Ngannou] going to knock him out badly. How about that? What is Jon Jones going to do? First, when you’re undefeated and you lose, it’s very tough. … If you’re champion, champion, undefeated, undisputed and then you lose badly, I don’t know how that’s going to affect you right here [pointing to the head]. I don’t know about Jon Jones’ future. I think he still has a couple of guys to beat at 205. My opinion — he should fight Adesanya. Stay at 205, beat Jan Blachowicz, beat Santos again, another guy.”

Even counting Ngannou aside, the UFC welterweight believes there are plenty of other bad matchups in the division for Jones.

Curtis Blaydes and Alistair Overeem being among them.

“I don’t know if it’s just me but there’s a lot of bad matchups for him,” Burns added. “Curtis Blaydes is a wrestler, good striker, hits very, very hard. Then we got Alistair Overeem, they used to train together and Overeem called him out. What does that mean? If the guy called you out and you used to train together, that’s a little confidence at least.

“Overeem, Curtis Blaydes, Francis Ngannou? I don’t know. I got to see it to believe it. But I don’t think it’s a good move for Jon Jones to go up to heavyweight as of right now.”

Of course, comments like these will only spur Jones to prove his critics wrong even more. And if the light heavyweights didn’t scare him, heavyweights like Ngannou certainly will which will undoubtedly bring out the best of Jones.

Do you agree with Burns?

Gilbert Burns Heaps Praise On ‘Very Underrated’ Conor McGregor

Ahead of his February welterweight title challenge at UFC 248, streaking Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu standout, Gilbert ‘Durinho’ Burns has had some complimentary words for UFC 257 headliner, ‘The Notorious’ Conor McGregor — praising the grappling prowess of the Straight Blast Gym striker. Burns hopes to finally stand opposite reigning division leader, Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman […]

Burns hopes to finally stand opposite reigning division leader, Kamaru ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Usman in his first attempted title challenge under the UFC’s banner, following a pair of failed matchups with the champion in December and July last, respectively.

Since his return to welterweight back in August of 2019, Sanford MMA mainstay, Burns has won four on the trot, extending his overall undefeated to run to six-fights. The Brazilian headlined his first UFC event in May at UFC Vegas where he took home a dominant unanimous decision win and the division’s number-one contender status against former champion, Tyron ‘The Chosen One’ Woodley. The victory followed a March knockout win over compatriot, Demian Maia in Brasilia.

Slated for a February matchup with Usman, a month following McGregor’s set comeback against former opponent and interim lightweight titleholder, Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier, Burns touched on the former’s grappling ability, claiming the Dubliner is “very underrated“ in that aspect of his overall skillset — pointing to McGregor’s opening-round sweep over two-time foe, Nate Diaz during their UFC 196 matchup in 2016 as a clear sign of his overlooked ability.

“He’s (Conor McGregor) good,” Burns said. “People think he’s very bad, but he’s very good. People don’t remember he swept Nate Diaz in their first fight. I think he’s very underrated. People say, ‘All you have to do is take him down.’ First of all, when the guy controls the distance like Conor (McGregor), it’s not easy to take the guy down.“

“Another thing that people don’t realise is those guys that kick a lot, they develop a lot power in their hips. So those hips are very flexible and very strong. It’s that type of flexibility and strength that is the same one that you use to defend the takedowns. The point is, Conor’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is not bad. People underestimate that, but he is a good grappler the way I see. For sure, he’s not a grappler. It’s not a natural thing. It’s not his natural thing, but for sure he’s put a lot of focus on that.” (H/T Middleeasy)

Burns, under Rafael Barros, is a second-degree Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, scoring eight of his fourteen career finishes via submission. An ADCC bronze medalist back in 2015 in his native Brazil, Burns has scored a whopping four world championship wins in both World and World No-Gi competition.

For McGregor, the 32-year-old was promoted to a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu brown belt following his 2014 knockout victory over the above mentioned, Poirier by longtime head coach, John Kavanagh, who is the first Irish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, under trainer, Matt Thornton.

Gilbert Burns Sees Not Fighting Kamaru Usman In July As Blessing After Contracting COVID-19

Gilbert Burns believes it was a blessing in disguise that he didn’t compete for the welterweight title as initially planned. Burns was set to challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight strap in the UFC 251 headliner in July until he had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19. Instead, Jorge Masvidal stepped in on short […]

Gilbert Burns believes it was a blessing in disguise that he didn’t compete for the welterweight title as initially planned.

Burns was set to challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight strap in the UFC 251 headliner in July until he had to withdraw after testing positive for COVID-19.

Instead, Jorge Masvidal stepped in on short notice and went on to suffer a unanimous decision defeat to Usman over five rounds.

While he was happy that Usman remained champion so he could attempt to dethrone him, the Brazilian admits it was hard to watch the event.

“I was watching that fight and I was almost in tears because when Masvidal was walking out to the fight, it was supposed to be me,” Burns told MMA Fighting. “When I saw him walking, it was supposed to be me.

“I held on because my kids were here but I almost cried watching Masvidal walking in. That was my chance. It was supposed to be me.”

However, that’s when hindsight kicked in.

With COVID-19 being a respiratory disease, Burns found that he still wasn’t at 100 percent even a month after testing positive. His cardio and conditioning were notably affected during this time.

“My energy level was not normal coming back,” Burns said. “It’s a long process. I was not at 100 percent [a month after testing positive].”

In the end, Burns sees it as a blessing that he didn’t end up fighting.

“I feel better that I didn’t fight,” Burns added. “I know that sounds weird but if I got that virus and for any reason tested negative, I was going into the fight and I wasn’t feeling good. Don’t get me wrong, even if I’m not feeling good, I’m going to fight anyways. I’m not going to pull out, especially for a title fight. I’m going to give my best. I don’t know if my best will be enough but I’ll never pull out of the fight.

“But to take me out and I got home and started getting sick, I definitely see it as a blessing.”

Luckily, Burns won’t have to wait much longer.

Despite initially being slated to fight at UFC 256 earlier this month, the welterweight title fight has reportedly been verbally agreed for UFC 258 which takes place February 13.

Do you think Burns can win the welterweight title against Usman?

BREAKING: Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns Targeted for Feb. 13

Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns has a new targeted date in the first quarter of 2021, with the two former teammates set to clash on February 13. Per Combate, Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns is in the works for UFC 258 on February 13. There is currently n…

The post BREAKING: Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns Targeted for Feb. 13 appeared first on MMA News.

Gilbert Burns Challenges Nate Diaz To $400k Grappling Match

While top UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns awaits his inevitable clash with welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, he has issued a grappling challenge to Black Belt Nate Diaz for a $400k winner take all match. “So as my title fight is not scheduled yet, Let’s grapple! Let’s see who is the real gangster @NateDiaz209 so I put […]

So as my title fight is not scheduled yet, Let’s grapple! Let’s see who is the real gangster @NateDiaz209 so I put $200,000 you put $200,000 winner takes all at @ChaelSonnen @UFCFightPass what you say? pic.twitter.com/yaUFxUO6Ep

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) November 13, 2020

“So as my title fight is not scheduled yet, Let’s grapple! Let’s see who is the real gangster @NateDiaz209 so I put $200,000 you put $200,000 winner takes all at @ChaelSonnen @UFCFightPass what you say?”

Ever since the Burns-Usman matchup was announced in the summer, Nate Diaz has verbally attacked Burns numerous times, often stating that he did not deserve the title opportunity.

While Burns sits on the sidelines, he hopes to remain active, even calling Diaz out to a grappling match.

It certainly seems like Burns is offering this match to Submission Underground, a grappling promotion owned by former UFC star Chael Sonnen.

We haven’t seen Nate Diaz in action since his loss to Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244. The veteran was battered over three rounds before being stopped due to cuts. A rematch has been discussed but now appears to be off the table as the UFC try to match Masvidal with Colby Covington.

Both fighters hold black belts in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, it would certainly draw some eyes to see who would come out on top.

Who do you think would win a grappling match between Gilbert Burns and Nate Diaz?