After May’s UFC 288 card lost its co-main event between Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush, the promotion has pulled off a needed addition to the lineup with Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad.
UFC president Dana White teased this past weekend that the matchmaking team was looking to put together a short-notice fight for the May 6 event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. It did just that as former title challenger Burns (22-5 MMA, 15-5 UFC) will take on streaking contender Muhammad (22-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) in a high-stakes welterweight showdown.
White officially announced the matchup Thursday on Instagram Live. The co-main bout will be a five-round contest.
Burns, No. 7 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie welterweight rankings, will make his third octagon appearance of 2023. “Durinho” submitted Neil Magny in the first round at UFC 283 in January, then defeated Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision at UFC 287 this month.
After the win over Masvidal, the Brazilian demanded the UFC confirm him as the backup fighter for its planned Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington title fight, which would set him up for the winner. Burns said he would not accept any other fights in the meantime, but the organization managed to convince him to fight just four weeks later.
No. 4 Muhammad, for his part, will attempt to solidify his first UFC title shot by extending his current unbeaten streak to double digits. Muhammad hasn’t lost in his past nine bouts, and his current four-fight winning streak includes Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, Stephen Thompson, and Demian Maia.
The latest UFC 288 lineup now includes:
- Aljamain Sterling vs. Henry Cejudo – for bantamweight title
- Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad
- Jessica Andrade vs. Yan Xiaonan
- Drew Dober vs. Matt Frevola
- Movsar Evloev vs. Bryce Mitchell
- Kron Gracie vs. Charles Jourdain
- Devin Clark vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu
- Rolando Bedoya vs. Khaos Williams
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Marina Rodriguez
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Phil Hawes
- Rafael Estevam vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov
- Joseph Holmes vs. Claudio Ribeiro
- Johnny Munoz vs. Daniel Santos
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 288.
