Jorge Masvidal has rejected Gilbert Burns' plea to put his UFC 'bad motherf***er' belt on line in their April showdown.
Masvidal will return to the Octagon for the first time in several months when he takes on Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 on April 8. 'Gamebred' is once again looking to assert his status as a title contender in the welterweight division, despite having lost his last three fights, including two against Kamaru Usman.
While facing a pivotal outing in his career, Masvidal remains champion of the BMF belt, which he has held for over two years since beating Nate Diaz in November 2019. Burns made a public plea on Twitter for his upcoming foe to stake the title in the clash, writing: “Put that belt on the line! Everybody knows It’s only one guy in the @ufc that fights ANYONE!”
The call would have seen the pair duel over five-rounds in the co-main event, which will take place just before Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira's middleweight title rematch. However, Masvidal has insisted he only wants to duel with Burns for three-rounds, particularly as he envisages his rival will take a wrestling approach.
"[If] they pay me BMF money, which the UFC ain’t going to up it up for more money. So, sorry, Gilbert," Masvidal said during an interview with MMA Hour. "I already got my contract. I already signed my s***. I could give a f*** less. Three rounds is more than enough that I need for Gilbert. I like all the publicity and extra that he’s putting into it, but, brother, three rounds is all I need for that.
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"I’m glad it’s a guy like Gilbert. I’ve been in this sport and it’s only been to fight the best of the best of the best in the world, and he’s perfect in a lot of ways for me to test my grappling, because I know he’s going to come test me in grappling. I know he’s going to talk a big game that he’s going to come and strike with me and all this BMF s***.
"But at the end of the day, I’m ‘Gamebred,’ he’s Gilbert, he’s going to go for the takedown, 100 miles per hour and hope that he gets in, and if that fails, he’ll come strike with me. So, I’m going to be prepared to grapple him and the next and the next and the next, because I know I’ve got the hands to beat all these guys. I’ve got the knees and elbows that change lives in seconds. I’ve just got to fine-tune a couple things and I’ve been working on it."
