Tyron Woodley explains why Gilbert Burns poses a big problem for Kamaru Usman

Tyron Woodley thinks Gilbert Burns has a chance to upset UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

Woodley (19-5-1 MMA, 9-4-1 UFC), the former 170-pound champ who lost his title to Usman, has gone 25 minutes with both men in back-to-back unanimous decision losses, and he sees numerous advantages for the challenger.

Woodly thinks Burns (18-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) is more well rounded and expects him to pose a lot of problems for Usman (17-1 MMA, 12-0 UFC), especially if the fight hits the mat.

“He has power,” Woodley said of Burns on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast. “He has more power than Usman. He’s a better grappler than Usman, jiu-jitsu wise, but I think the striking – he may not be better, but he does punch a little bit harder, and it’s going to be a point where it has to go to the ground. We all just can be real: Gilbert’s gonna win that ground fight. Maybe not from his back, but if he finds a way on top or a position where he can take the back, it’s a problem.”

Usman has looked dominant in the majority of his UFC fights and is coming off a unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal earlier this month.

Woodley did give Usman praise for his high fight IQ and ability to dictate the pace, but thinks he’ll have to come up with a solid game plan to neutralize Burns’ strengths.

“Usman’s above average everywhere, but he’s not excellent anywhere,” Woodley said. “But he’s a good implementer. He’s above average everywhere, but he’s not excellent anywhere, but he’s excellent at putting it together. He’s excellent at making adjustments within a fight.

“Whether you like watching him take Masvidal down or not, he never did one takedown against Colby, and Leon Edwards he struck and when it was time to takedown, he went for the takedown. So he’s very good at putting it together, and he’s going to have to do that against Burns.”

Burns initially was scheduled to face Usman in the UFC 251 headliner but was forced out after testing positive for COVID-19 and replaced by Masvidal. UFC president Dana White confirmed that Burns is next in line for Usman, but the date of their fight is yet to be announced.