Home Articles Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns to headline UFC 258

Kamaru Usman vs Gilbert Burns to headline UFC 258

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will finally make the much-awaited return to the cage against top contender Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 next month.

UFC 258 is scheduled to take place on February 14 with the location being TBA. The news was first released by Brazilian outlet Combate and later confirmed by Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

This fight was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 251 in Fight Island, Abu Dhabi. However, Gilbert Burns had to pull out of the fight almost a week before after testing positive for Covid-19.

Following which, BMF belt holder Jorge Masvidal had to step in on short notice to accept the fight. UFC 251 ended up selling 1.3 Million PPV buys making it one of the highest-selling PPV of the year.

Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman were again scheduled to fight at UFC 256 on December 12, but the fight got cancelled after Usman pulled out.

Kamaru Usman is coming off of a decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 and prior to that, he defeated Colby Covington via TKO at UFC 245 in December of 2019. On the other hand, Gilbert Burns is coming off of a decision win over former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.

Gilbert Burns was glad to not fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 251

Speaking to MMAFighting, Gilbert Burns stated that he was glad to not fight Kamaru Usman at UFC 251 because after contracting Covid, his energy level was low for months.

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].”

I feel better that I didn’t fight,” Burns said. “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.” [H/T – MMAFighting.com]

Who do you guys think wins in a fight between Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments section below.

 

 

 

 

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