Shane Burgos says USADA one of the reasons he re-signed with UFC

Shane Burgos is not going anywhere.

The rising featherweight contender signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC earlier this month after fighting out his contract at UFC 244 this past November, as first reported by ESPN.

With a stoppage win over Makwan Amirkhani, the 29-year-old Burgos (13-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) is now ranked No. 10 in the UFC’s official 145-pound rankings and finds himself on a three-fight winning streak, which includes a notable victory over veteran Cub Swanson.

Burgos said he’s happy he stayed with the UFC, and said the promotion’s anti-doping partner, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, was a big reason why he re-signed.

“It’s a four-fight deal,” Burgos told MMA Junkie. “I turned down a nice offer from another promotion for even more money just because I wanted to stay in the UFC.

“A big thing for me, and I don’t express this too much, but the reason why I want to stay in the UFC – it’s because of USADA. A lot of promotions, their drug testing is too lenient and it’s easy to get away with (things). As much as USADA is a nuisance, it makes it harder for the cheaters to cheat. I know there are guys that are still getting away with it, which sucks. But you’re going to have the least amount of cheaters in the UFC. I truly believe that.

“Outside the UFC, it’s a free-for-all because you know when you’re going to get tested. So I turned down an offer for a decent amount of money so I can stay in the UFC. But I’m more than happy with the deal the UFC gave me. I’m going to be getting paid good.”

It’s not easy to turn down offers when more money is involved, especially in prize fighting. Burgos admitted it was a tough decision, but he thinks he ultimately made the right call.

“It wasn’t a no-brainier,” Burgos said. “I have a family. This is how I provide, how I make a living, so I was tossing and turning thinking about it. There were pros and cons to both, so my wife literally wrote down a pros and cons list and the UFC just made more sense, especially with USADA. Cheaters drive me nuts, so that was a big factor for me. But the UFC made me a great offer, too. I’m making significantly more than before, so I’m happy with the offer still.”

Apart from the new UFC deal, Burgos also signed with First Round Management. He says that management team was instrumental in getting the deal that he got. Despite the length of the process, Burgos recommended fighters give free agency a try to see their worths.

“It went a little longer than I expected, so that kind of sucked,” Burgos said. “I wanted to fight early March – that way I wouldn’t have had to deal with all the corona(virus) (expletive). It was fun, but after three months of not having a deal done, I was like, ‘OK, this (expletive) is getting old – (I) just want a deal.’ I signed with First Round Management, and that was a huge part in getting this done and getting this UFC deal.

“Business-wise, I think it’s a smart decision. Why not test it? It gives you an idea of how much you’re really worth, too, so that’s good and I think all fighters should try it.”

It’s tough to know when Burgos will fight next given the complex situation of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. The New Yorker hopes to fight as soon as possible and wants to get his hands on someone up ladder.

“I want to be done with this contract ASAP – do three fights and renegotiate on the third fight,” he said. “But it’s such a weird time right now with the coronavirus. I don’t know when I’ll be able to fight, so it’s just hard to gauge it. I just don’t know when I’m going to fight.

“I’m just looking at whoever is ahead of me, and most of them are booked. You have a couple: You have (Calvin) Kattar and (Jeremy) Stephens fighting on April 18. Me and Kattar had a great fight together already. Me and Stephens would be a lot of fun, too. You have Yair (Rodriguez) and Zabit (Magomedsharipov) – those would be fun fights. You have (Brian) Ortega. Honestly, any of those matchups would be firefights.”