Jorge Masvidal thinks Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad is anybody’s fight.
Burns (22-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) and Muhammad (22-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) square off in Saturday’s UFC 288 co-headliner at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J., in what is expected to be a No. 1 contender bout at welterweight. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN/ESPN+.
Masvidal is coming off a unanimous decision loss to Burns at UFC 287 in April and subsequently retired after the fight. “Gamebred” sees more ways to win for Burns, but gives Muhammad several advantages.
“I think it’s going to be a good fight for (Burns) – tough,” Masvidal told MMA Junkie. “I think Belal has, in the cardio department, more advantages in the grappling, I think. Gilbert has different weapons with a little bit better power than Belal. So I think it’s going to be a very interesting, good fight. I could see either one of them winning, actually. I think Belal is a little cleaner with the boxing.”
Burns will be making a turnaround of less than a month to face the streaking Muhammad, and Masvidal praises him for staying active. UFC 288 will mark “Durinho’s” third fight in 2023.
“That’s what fighters when I was coming up used to do ,and then it kind of faded out where fighters didn’t want to fight no more,” Masvidal said. “Like, ‘Oh, I don’t want to put my prestigious 3-0 record in the UFC up.’ This is the fight world. Everybody is going to fight everybody. You get down and dirty and nasty and get after it.
“He just had the biggest win of his career, Gilbert, and here he is fighting Belal. He could have just sat out now until a title shot and he’s getting the title shot at some point, no doubt about that. But that just shows Gilbert is a fighter, and people should get behind him because that’s what he’s coming to do is fight.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
