UFC’s Gilbert Burns reveals target date for Kamaru Usman title fight after coronavirus recovery
- ‘Durinho’ is back training after the heartbreak of missing UFC 251, and is ‘super confident’ he will beat welterweight champ Usman
- ‘I know a lot of things I can do better than Masvidal, and maybe put Kamaru in a lot of trouble,’ says the Brazilian
Gilbert “Durinho” Burns sat in front of the television on July 11 at his home in Southern Florida watching attentively with a notepad in hand while Kamaru Usman successfully defended his welterweight title against Jorge Masvidal in the headliner of UFC 251 on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Being that the Brazilian was supposed to be in that position, it wasn’t easy.
“Watching the fight was hard because I was imagining me fighting,” Burns told SCMP MMA.
A week earlier, the 34-year-old tested positive for coronavirus and was immediately pulled from the main event against his Sanford MMA teammate, his dreams shattered in the process. The only option was to observe and study his future opponent in isolation.
“I took a lot of notes, like a lot of things I can do,” Burns said. “With me, I think [Usman] will do a different game plan. Like what he did with Masvidal, he took Masvidal down a couple of times. Masvidal is very slick and did a good job from the bottom, he stayed active. And we could realise that Kamaru got a little bit tired from that. He was doing deep breaths during the breaks because of that.
“I don’t want to be cocky saying that, but I know a couple of things as a grappling aspect I can do a lot better than Masvidal, and maybe put Kamaru in a lot of trouble even in the clinch.”