Following his impressive victory over Neil Magny at UFC 283, Gilbert Burns has already put together a plan for his next fight in the Las Vegas-based promotion.
“Whenever the UFC has asked me to fight on short notice, I have never said no. I have heard that they will be doing another ‘Ultimate Fighter’ and I hope that they give me the opportunity to headline it against Colby Covington. I am also available to be the reserve fighter for Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in London. If they want me to fight Belal Muhammad in London, I am ready. I just want to be active this year,” Burns stated at the UFC 283 post-fight press conference.
Burns also discussed the retirements of Mauricio Rua and Glover Teixeira, both of whom competed for the last time at UFC 283. “Those guys were big inspirations for my generation. Not only for their amazing accomplishments in their careers, but also for the way they always treated their opponents. There is no doubt that their names are printed in MMA history,” he said.
Burns predicted a bright future for Ismael Bonfim and Gabriel Bonfim, who both earned memorable victories in their Octagon debuts at UFC 283. “They are the future of Brazilian MMA. I trained with them some camps ago when I was with Vicente Luque at Cerrado MMA and I could feel that they are really special. I did a particular sparring session with Ismael that was so tough that the head coach prohibited us from doing any other sparring sessions. When I saw them today in the arena, I welcomed them and told them to have fun. I have no doubt that this will be their home for a long time. They did exactly what I expected. They are coming to be champions in their respective weight classes,” Burns said.
He added, “By the way, there are four names that I am betting on as the future of Brazilian MMA and they were all on that card: Gabriel, Ismael, Jailton Almeida, and Gregory Rodrigues. Gregory didn’t have a good night. He was so well prepared to face Brad Tavares, so when they changed it to a completely different opponent, I don’t think he was ready. I am sure he will make a strong recovery.”
“Whenever the UFC has asked me to fight on short notice, I have never said no. I have heard that they will be doing another ‘Ultimate Fighter’ and I hope that they give me the opportunity to headline it against Colby Covington. I am also available to be the reserve fighter for Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman at UFC 286 in London. If they want me to fight Belal Muhammad in London, I am ready. I just want to be active this year,” Burns stated at the UFC 283 post-fight press conference.
Burns also discussed the retirements of Mauricio Rua and Glover Teixeira, both of whom competed for the last time at UFC 283. “Those guys were big inspirations for my generation. Not only for their amazing accomplishments in their careers, but also for the way they always treated their opponents. There is no doubt that their names are printed in MMA history,” he said.
Burns predicted a bright future for Ismael Bonfim and Gabriel Bonfim, who both earned memorable victories in their Octagon debuts at UFC 283. “They are the future of Brazilian MMA. I trained with them some camps ago when I was with Vicente Luque at Cerrado MMA and I could feel that they are really special. I did a particular sparring session with Ismael that was so tough that the head coach prohibited us from doing any other sparring sessions. When I saw them today in the arena, I welcomed them and told them to have fun. I have no doubt that this will be their home for a long time. They did exactly what I expected. They are coming to be champions in their respective weight classes,” Burns said.
He added, “By the way, there are four names that I am betting on as the future of Brazilian MMA and they were all on that card: Gabriel, Ismael, Jailton Almeida, and Gregory Rodrigues. Gregory didn’t have a good night. He was so well prepared to face Brad Tavares, so when they changed it to a completely different opponent, I don’t think he was ready. I am sure he will make a strong recovery.”
