Gilbert Burns believes he has to finish Jorge Masvidal to stake his claim in the UFC welterweight division.
Burns (20-5 MMA, 13-5 UFC) faces Masvidal (35-16 MMA, 12-9 UFC) in the UFC 287 co-headliner on April 8 at Miami-Dade Arena.
Masvidal has been finished only once in the past 14 years, a knockout loss to former champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 261. “Durinho,” who’s coming off a first-round submission of Neil Magny, possesses a well rounded game and knows he’ll have to rely on his full toolset to take out Masvidal.
“I don’t think it’s gonna be easy,” Burns told Submission Radio. “I think it’s gonna be bloody. I think you’re gonna get to a point that we’re gonna bang, you’re going to a war, and let’s see a finish. You know, maybe second, maybe late third round. But I’m looking forward to a finish. And then whatever it takes. It could be a jiu-jitsu, it could be submission, could be a knockout, it could be a TKO or whatever it is. I’m looking forward to finish Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287.”
He continued, “I’m very dangerous. I’m dangerous everywhere. He should be waiting for a shot. His hands should be up. It’s gonna be very hard for the hands to be up and defend the takedown at the same time. But, yeah, he should be very alert with the takedown threat with the heavy hands. I want a finish. I don’t think a decision win over Masvidal would do a lot for me. But I do believe a spectacular finish first, maybe second round, knockout or submission, I think does a lot for me.”
With Masvidal having dropped his past three in a row, the likes of Daniel Cormier are looking at his fight with Burns as a must-win. But Masvidal is arguably the biggest draw in the division, so Burns knows that a win for “Gamebred” could also lead to high stakes – especially if Leon Edwards remains welterweight champion.
“Very, very tough, very durable, lot of experience fighting at home,” Burns said of Masvidal. “And the other thing that I think is true, he’s coming from three losses. He don’t want that fourth loss. He don’t want me (to beat him). He might be done if you get another loss. So, I think that’s a little fire on him to come and put work on me. So, I think he’s up there, very tough.”
He continued, “I’m counting on him coming very well prepared, especially fighting at home, coming off three losses. If Leon wins, I think it even can make Masvidal even more dangerous. Because if Leon beats Kamaru and if Jorge beats me, I think the UFC is gonna make this fight. So, I can see if Leon wins, he comes even a little bit more fired up for this fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 287.
