What’s Next For Gilbert Burns?

Another weekend of fisticuffs has come and gone as UFC 258 hit UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past weekend (Sat., Feb. 13, 2021). Plenty of fighters were left licking their wounds, including Maycee Barber, who suffered her second straight loss after losing to Alexa Grasso (recap here). And Rodolfo Vieira, who was stunned and submitted by Anthony Hernandez (relive it here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?

Gilbert Burns.

“Durinho” put in all of the work necessary to position himself to fight for the Welterweight title, winning four straight, including a dominant win over former champion Tyron Woodley. Unfortunately for Burns, he ran into a dominant champion who is at the peak of his game.

Early on, Burns managed to clip “The Nigerian Nightmare” with a powerful bomb that rocked the champ. After shaking it off and regrouping, Usman went into cruise control, stuffing all of his former training partner’s attempted takedowns and brutalizing him with a relentless jab that found its mark time after time.

In round three, “The Nigerian Nightmare” dropped “Durniho” with yet another stiff jab, this time the champ didn’t give his foe a chance to get up, pouncing on him and delivering some lethal ground-and-pound with laser-like accuracy.

After the fight, Burns was quick to assess his loss and explain what went wrong.

“It wasn’t exactly what I wanted it to be,” Burns said during the post-fight presser. “I think I got overexcited. I went my guy Cody Garbrandt-crazy as soon as I hurt him. That was the second time. I think I made the same mistake when I fought Dan Hooker. I got overexcited.

“In order to be a champion, I have to be disciplined,” he continued. “I have to be disciplined. I have so much respect for my guy Cody Garbrandt. I just went the same way. As soon as I saw he was hurt, (I forgot) about the strategy. I went for the kill. In order to be a champion, I cannot make those mistakes.”

Now, the Brazilian bomber will have to work his way back up to another shot at the strap. And it won’t be easy since the 170-pound weight class is one of the most stacked divisions under the UFC banner. But, as “Durinho” has shown in the past, he has what it takes to rack up impressive wins in a hurry.

As for what’s next for Burns, that’s a little tough because there are so many unknowns right now in the division. Leon Edwards was set to fight Khamzat Chimaev, but after that fight went up in smoke the promotion is eying a title eliminator fight between “Rocky” and Colby Covington. Jorge Masvidal, for whatever reason, could get the next title fight. I would prefer to see Burns versus Masvidal next.

All that aside, if a fight between Covington and Edwards does happen, then match up Burns with the loser of that bout.

Objections?