Gilbert Burns’ recent win over Stephen Thompson may not have been the best performance of his career, but “Durinho” was awfully happy he even got the chance to fight.
Just one week before the co-main event of this month’s UFC 264, Burns took a direct hit from a golf club to the head, and he admits he was worried it might cost him the fight.
“I got a cut on my head a week before the fight,” Burns recently told MMA Junkie. “My son was playing golf. He freaking threw the golf club on my head.”
If you’re wondering what kind of madness takes place around the Burns’ household, the top UFC welterweight contender explains things aren’t quite as crazy as it might seem. But in the closing days of his training camp, Burns planned a relaxing family outing that suddenly became a bit scary.
“I just finished my strength and conditioning, and at my strength and conditioning place, IHP, they train a lot of golfers, so they have the golf clubs, they have things in there, and I already had plans with the family to go play golf at night,” Burns explained. “My son never plays. I said, ‘Hey Pedro,’ my oldest, ‘Come here. I’m going to show you how to do it.’
“I’m not a professional, but I know how to play a little bit, and then I showed him, ‘Here is the club. Look, how you hold it. He said, ‘I know, Daddy. I know. Look.’ I said, ‘OK,’ and I backed out. I backed away. I was very far away from him, but he swang like a freaking baseball bat, and he turns, and that sh-t came on my head, and pow! I was just like, ‘Man,’ and I was just praying, ‘Hopefully it doesn’t bleed. Hopefully, it doesn’t bleed.’ Just looking – there was blood everywhere.”
Burns had to get staples in his head just one week out from UFC 264, which took place July 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He says he actually kept his hair a little longer for the fight than he normally does as a way of covering up the damage.
Fortunately, the cut didn’t prove much of a factor in the contest, and Burns earned a unanimous decision win to keep himself at the top of the UFC 170-pound division. However, moving forward, the Brazilian grappling ace might need to find another family pastime.
“Both my sons, they’re crazy,” Burns joked. “They have a lot of energy.”
To see the full interview with Burns, check out the video below.
The Blue Corner is MMA Junkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly serious, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.
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Gilbert Burns explains how a golf club to the head wasn’t enough to keep him out of UFC 264