For the primary time in his 12-year combating profession, sixth-ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns enters a struggle coming off back-to-back losses. Burns headlines the UFC Vegas 97 struggle card on Sept. 7 in opposition to eighth-ranked Sean Brady.
“I like this man. He is 15-1. I like that struggle lots,” Burns stated throughout an look on the “Consider You Me” podcast. “The man’s good. He is overwhelmed some excessive stage competitors, Kelvin Gastelum, a few older dudes that had been very robust. He went toe-to-toe with Belal [Muhammad] till he acquired a end. He is a really robust dude. I respect him, however I just like the matchup. After they stated his identify I prefer it very a lot.”
Burns hopes to begin one other run on the title with a win over Brady and does not have a difficulty going through teammate third-ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“The very best state of affairs can be to beat Sean Brady, end it fast, beat Kamaru [Usman], and beat whoever is the champion, Shavkat, I do not care,” Burns stated. “We all know we’ll struggle one another. It isn’t dangerous blood, actually. We practice. We make one another higher however everybody needs to be one of the best.”
Burns is buddies with seventh-ranked Ian Machado Garry however would not hesitate to just accept a struggle in opposition to him.
“I do not care. If we have gotta struggle, we have gotta struggle. Might one of the best man win. ‘Oh, we skilled earlier than.’ Yeah, so what? We coaching however I am not attempting to kill you. We had been simply coaching,” Burns stated.
If he defeats Brady, Burns plans to name out former titleholder Kamaru Usman for a rematch. The 2 fought at UFC 258 in February 2021 with Usman defeating Burns through TKO.
“I’ll name (out) Kamaru first,” Burns stated. “For positive I need that rematch. It isn’t that Ian Garry – for positive I might do this struggle too, however for me, the blokes which are in entrance of me, they’re the largest fights. Leon Edwards now has no opponent. That is a giant struggle. Kamaru Usman, a former champ, rematch, is an effective struggle. Colby Covington too. He is one other one… A giant win over these three guys is a title shot, so that is what I am wanting ahead too.”
