[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] was 77 seconds away from victory at UFC 299 before a tactical error led to him being knocked out by Jack Della Maddalena.
After a 10-month layoff that included shoulder surgery, Burns (22-7 MMA, 15-7 UFC) got back in the octagon this past weekend in Miami for a welterweight bout with Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC). He won the first two rounds on two of three judges’ scorecards and was doing well in the third until the fight changed on a dime.
Della Maddalena brilliantly timed a counter knee that landed clean on Burns, badly hurting the Brazilian and setting up a sequence of ground-and-pound that led to the comeback finish at the 3:37 mark of Round 3. It was a tough pill to swallow for Burns, but he took all accountability for it during his first post-fight statement after UFC 299 (via Instagram):
https://www.instagram.com/p/C4Ydbi6ptvE/
Felt great in there! Put on a great training camp and a good strategy, unfortunately it’s the fight game made a bad decision and paid for it! And I was very happy to be in there! Shoutout to Jack Della on a great win! No excuses, just grateful to God, for my family, my team, my friends my sponsors, supporters and to all the fans ❤️❤️❤️ time to rest and expend a quality time with my family. See you guys soon!
Burns, 37, now must go back to the drawing board in the rapidly evolving welterweight division. He’s 3-3 in his past six fights since unsuccessfully challenging then-champ Kamaru Usman for the belt in February 2021, with his past two fights resulting in losses to Della Maddalena and Belal Muhammad.
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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 299.