Gilbert Burns took back the recent accusations made to his opponent Jorge Masvidal.
The UFC welterweight contender apologized for saying that Masvidal (35-17 MMA, 12-10 UFC) had illegally greased up for their co-main event bout at Saturday’s UFC 287 in Miami. Burns (22-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC), who defeated Masvidal in a unanimous decision, said in the post-fight press conference that Masvidal had put on lotion and his grappling was hindered because of it.
Now, a few days removed from the event, Burns took to Twitter to set the record straight after Masvidal fired back at his comments.
“I just would like to take a moment to apologize to Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal and his team at ATT on the things I said after the fight at the press-fight conference at UFC 287,” Burns said in a video posted on Twitter. “I said that he passed lotion and this and that, and it was too much. I can’t prove that, and I would like to apologize to send my apologies to Jorge and his team and take everything that I said.
“I hope that he accepts my apologies and I think what I did was wrong. I have no proof that he did that. I want to take nothing away from him. That guy is a warrior, 52 professional fights. I hope that he has a good retirement and I hope he accepts my apology.”
Taking this moment to apologize to @GamebredFighter and his team @mikebrownmma @AmericanTopTeam pic.twitter.com/jNZva97ugO
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) April 11, 2023
Masvidal announced his retirement after the loss to Burns. He closed out a 52-fight career in MMA and got to say farewell to the sport in front of his home crowd, being a Miami native.
On the other hand, Burns demanded to be the back-up role for the expected Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington welterweight title fight, and if his replacement services go unneeded, to be the next in line for the belt. Demands that were accepted by UFC president Dana White that same night, at UFC 287.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
