Gilbert Burns who is the No.1 ranked UFC welterweight in the world has to doesn’t have to wait that long to get a title shot against the current champion. Burns was set to fight Kamura Usman at UFC 251 but had to pull out after being COVID-19 positive.
Burns is on a six-fight winning streak in the UFC’s stacked welterweight division. Fighting out of Brazil, Gilbert Burns and his brother Herbert Burns have done very well in their UFC careers respectively. Especially Gilbert Burns who has been on a rise since moving up to the welterweight division.
Gilbert has four ‘Performance of the Night’ bonuses and notable wins over Tyron Woodley, Demian Maia, Gunnar Nelson, and Alex Oliveira.
The rise of Gilbert Burns in the UFC
The last time Gilbert Burns fought was against Tyron Woodley on May 30, 2020, in the main event of UFC on ESPN: Woodley vs. Burns. After knocking Woodley down in the first round and mostly dominating the former champion throughout the fight, Burns won the fight via unanimous decision.
Right after this amazing performance against the former welterweight champion Burns got a crack at the title shot against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 on July 11. However, on July 3, 2020, it was revealed that Burns tested positive for COVID-19, and he was consequently withdrawn from the card. which then Jorge Masvidal took the fight on 7 days’ notice.
While Gilbert trains out of Miami, Florida, he proudly represents his home country Brazil in the UFC. Brazil has produced some of the best fighters of all time such as Anderson “The Spider” Silva, Jose Aldo, Vitor “The Phenom” Belfort, Nogueira brothers, Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, Maurício “Shogun” Rua, Wanderlei silva etc.
Which Brazilian fighter influenced Gilbert Burns the most?
Recently while talking to The Schmo, Burns was asked about top 4 of his all-time greats in the UFC from Brazil and the one’s that influenced him and his brother the most.
“Yeah Nogueira for sure! No.1, Vitor Belfort No.2, Anderson Silva at No.3 and No.4 is the guy that I like most… Werdum.”
He also talked about gracies, “Yeah… also got a lot of respect for the Gracie’s you know but yeah I go with these four. For sure got respect for Royce Gracie and all the Gracie family I am grateful for these guys but I gotta put Werdum on that. Werdum is a world champion, UFC champion everything… he became a champion soo I wanna put Werdum in that.”
Burns was also asked about who he picks between Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington who may be fighting next to which he said, “Yeah… I don’t know it’s a…very intriguing matchup, because Colby is not going to be that dangerous with the hands so that being said…Woodley doesn’t need to be with the hands up like, watching for the punches shots his hands can be a little lower then he can defend the takedown…easily he very strong… and yeah I don’t know Tyron Woodley can get that cardio good and his mind together. he needs to be strong mentally while going to that fight and yeah I am gonna see that fight hope Tyron Woodley wins that fight.”
Burns also gave a hint that he may be fighting Usman coming December for the welterweight championship. So it will be interesting to see what’s next for Gilbert Burns.
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