Gilbert Burns
Wants to fight: [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]
The callout: “My name now has got to be the No. 1 contender. I love the champ, my training partner Kamaru Usman, but c’mon – give me the shot. I’ve got a lot of love for you, but I’m next. I want to fight for the title. If they want to make the fight in July, I’m injury-free. I want to fight for the title.”
The reality: After a dominant win over former champion Tyron Woodley at UFC on ESPN 9, [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] is certainly within his rights to call for a title shot next, but the welterweight title waters are still somewhat cloudy.
Defending champ Usman looked to be all set to face Jorge Masvidal, but “Gamebred” seems to have turned his attention to a rematch with Nate Diaz instead. Meanwhile, Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz offered a title shot to Conor McGregor, only for the UFC to shoot down the idea. Then there’s Leon Edwards, who is riding an eight-fight winning streak and was set to face Woodley in London in March before the pandemic hit. Then, of course, there’s former interim champ Colby Covington.
There are a lot of directions the UFC could take with the title next. Masvidal has the star power, Edwards has the winning streak, and Covington has the ability to sell the hell out of a rematch. But recency bias is real in this sport, and “Durinho’s” outstanding performance certainly gives him a shot. I suspect he’ll be asked to face either Edwards or Covington next in a title eliminator but, make no mistake, the Brazilian has well and truly arrived as a top-drawer contender at 170.
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