With a few days to reflect upon his failed title bid at UFC 258, Gilbert Burns admits the loss still hurts but believes it has only increased his hunger to become a champion.
“Durinho” knows his early knockdown of UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman brought too much emotion to the surface, and the lack of patience ultimately proved costly.
“It’s always painful, but as the days are going, I’m feeling better,” Burns told MMA Junkie. “I watched the fight several times, possibly over 20 times already. I started very good, and I lost the patience. I saw the knockout, and I started going after it too much, loaded up a lot of punches. I was out of my zone at the time, but it was right there.
“If I was a little bit more patient, a little bit more relaxed, even if I was listening to Vicente Luque, the things that he was saying, ‘Hey, don’t load up. Keep the quick punches. He’s not fighting you.’ When I was trying to be quick and not loading up, he wasn’t finding no jab at me, nothing. Head movement was on point. Footwork was on point. But as soon as I hit him hard once, I was out of there, and it was hard to get me back on my flow mode.”
Now back in Florida, Burns said he’s struggling to take the necessary time away from the gym because he’s so anxious to go back and correct his mistakes. He’s already been in contact with UFC president Dana White, as well as his manager, Ali Abdelaziz, and they’ve both advised him to take a little rest before making his next move.
“I already texted Dana,” Burns said. “I already texted Ali. I already texted Sean Shelby. They want me to take a little time off. That’s exactly what I’m going to do, but I believe in three to four weeks, I’ll be able to go back to training camp and training, but we’ll see.
“It’s hard to relax right now because I was believing so much that I would become a champion, and now it didn’t happen, so it’s kind of very weird right now, but I’m trying to be in the moment right now.”
Despite the setback, Burns remains in an enviable position in the UFC’s welterweight division, holding at No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings. With much of the division still waiting to book a fight, Burns admits he’s already looking at the possibilities of a May or June matchup with guys like Coby Covington, Leon Edwards, Stephen Thompson, Michael Chiesa or even Khamzat Chimaev, and how those contests might be able to get him back to another shot at the belt.
“At first, when I got back to the hotel, I was already thinking, ‘OK, I want to fight Colby next,’” Burns said. “Then Colby is fighting Leon Edwards. ‘OK, give me Michael Chiesa.’ The names were going. Maybe ‘Wonderboy.’ But to be honest, right now I don’t know. I just saw Colby-Leon I don’t think is going to happen. That was the one that should happen. We’ll see. Now we’ve got some time, especially with the whole division laid off like that. It looks Kamaru is going to fight (Jorge) Masvidal.
“One fight and back to the title would only be Colby Covington. That’s the only one. Or Leon Edwards, if until May he doesn’t get another opponent, and then I fight him. That’s the fight. So I don’t know who I want. I want every single one of these guys. I’ll fight Khamzat. I’ll fight ‘Wonderboy.’ I’ll fight Michael Chiesa. It depends. If the UFC says you need two fights, then I’ll be a little bit behind on the rankings and then a guy up front on the rankings, but if they say one fight, OK, give me Colby Covington.”
If Burns does make his way back to a rematch with Usman, one glaring change that could be made would be for his head coach, Henri Hooft, to handle corner duties on fight night. Hooft declined to do that the first time around due to his relationship with former longtime pupil Usman, but Burns hopes that’s a conversation that can be had if the two are booked a second time.
“I believe the rematch is going to happen, and I would love to have Henri there with me,” Burns said. “I missed that guy in my corner so much. … I hope he will be able to be there for the rematch because I do believe that rematch is going to happen in the future, for sure.”
Until that time, Burns said he’s willing to face anyone and everyone standing in his way. He’ll wait until March to get back into his full training routine, but after that, much like his first run to the title, the 34-year-old Brazilian wants to fight as often as possible against absolutely anyone on the roster.
“I’m not going to decline a fight,” Burns said. “Dana already knows. Sean Shelby. Ali – Ask Ali. Those guys already know I will fight anybody in that division. I was the one calling everybody out and getting the short notice, and I guess I have to do everything back again.”
And Burns said he’s now more driven than ever. A former Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion, Burns also knows the feeling of coming up just short of your ultimate goal. But that’s when a man’s character is truly tested, and Burns says it’s those moments that drive him to succeed.
“There were a lot of people calling me a crybaby, but I cried a lot because that was my dream, and I saw me winning, and then to lose the way I lost, especially feeling that I didn’t give my best, that was devastating,” Burns said. “But I’m in good spirits right now. My mind is good. The family supports me. My team, my team is supporting me. All my friends, a lot of great messages that I got, and I guess that pain, I already felt that a couple times. Before I became a world champion, I lost a couple times. I was second place. I was third place, and then I finally became a world champion, so I know that pain already. I know that feeling already. I don’t know what it does with me, but it just freaking motivates me, drives me to get back to work.
“I know what I did wrong, and I cannot wait to be back fighting again, giving my best. Like I said multiple times, I’m going to be champion, or I’m going to die trying, but a couple more weeks, I’ll be back on the horse again, training. I know that pain, so it’s OK right now. I’m feeling good right now because I know that feeling already, so I’ll be back very soon.”
To hear the full interview with Burns, check out the video below.
Gilbert Burns undaunted by UFC 258 loss, says he’ll be champion or die trying