UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns is happy to bring the smoke to Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal. Burns appeared on the Trocação Franca podcast and revealed that UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby has been insistent on booking Burns vs Masvidal for quite some time.
“We wanted the Masvidal fight but then he kept stalling, and I said, ‘just give me anyone.’ Geoff Neal called me out and I asked the UFC to make the fight but they said ‘no, we will make the Masvidal fight.’ Sean Shelby insisted on it. ‘We will make this fight, that’s the fight we want.’ … And then they said I would definitely fight in Rio. ‘If [Masvidal] doesn’t want it, we’ll find someone else.’ It was a nightmare to find another opponent, nobody agreed to it until Neil Magny did.
Gilbert Burns Accuses Masvidal of Ducking Fight
I have no reason to lie. The fight was offered to Nov. 12, and he asked for more time. They offered for Dec. 10 and he said ‘yes’ at first, but then told Sean Shelby he would fight me in Rio. When Sean Shelby told me that, I was like, ‘bullsh*t’. I started planning my whole camp to fight this guy in Rio, and he backed out three weeks later.
It’s a fight the UFC wants, you know? I don’t even need to ask for this fight because I know the UFC wants to make it happen,” he said. “I would ask for a rematch with Khamzat [Chimaev], or Colby [Covington]. I would ask for everybody, really. But it’s a fight the UFC wants. He’s hard to negotiate and whatever. But I can’t think past Neil Magny. I have to beat him up first and then see who I’ll ask for.”
Burns, as he said, is set to face Neil Magny at UFC 283 in Brazil. Burns believes that Magny is ultimately a more dangerous opponent, but he is confident of securing a victory.
“If I put pressure on Masvidal, he’s tired by the second round. Neil Magny doesn’t get tired. Everybody that underestimates [Magny] loses to him. He has 20 wins in the division, he just broke the record. Even though he’s not a top-5 guy, he’s a veteran. I kind of have the pressure over me. I have to end this fight and that’s what I’m training for.
He called me out to fight in Brazil so he’s asking for it, right? I’ll give him something. It won’t go unanswered. You wish has been granted, so brace yourself because I’m coming to beat you up.”
What do you think is next for Masvidal and Burns? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24B6AEow9oY
