Maybe Chael Sonnen is not such a “Bad Guy” after all.
[autotag]Chael Sonnen[/autotag] learned the hard way not to mess with [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag].
After Sonnen suggested that Burns was retired on a recent episode of “Good Guy/Bad Guy” with Daniel Cormier, Burns retaliated by leaking his phone number on X in a later deleted post. However, Sonnen took being doxxed in stride as he decided to host a Q&A with fans once an array of calls came his way.
Maybe he’s not such a “Bad Guy” after all.
Check out Sonnen’s Q&A with fans in the video below:
History repeats itself!
Burns gave Sonnen a taste of his own medicine here, as Sonnen once posted Chad Mendes’ number on social media after Mendes failed to respond to his text messages in the lead-up to his interim featherweight title fight vs. Conor McGregor at UFC 189.
“I tell Daniel, I said, ‘Hey, I love the idea of Gilbert. I know he’s still in the rankings, but he’s left the pool, Gilbert Burns retired,'” Sonnen said. “‘He officially retired after his last fight’. And, guys, to this moment in time I still think I’m right. No, I’m clearly not right.
“Somewhere that got misprogrammed in my head, but I can still pause and think back. I remember Gilbert saying this. So Gilbert goes on Twitter and he plays the clip, and he says that is so disrespectful. ‘Hey, Chael, I’d like to talk to you about this. Is your phone number still,’ and he posts my phone number.”
Brad Tate has become one of the most recognizable UFC cutmen through humor, his online presence and his “rivalry” with Gilbert Burns.
LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Brad Tate[/autotag] considers himself blessed.
“I’ve always said, ‘If you find something you love, you’ll never work another day in your life, and that’s the truth,'” Tate recently told MMA Junkie on the 16th Annual Fighters Only World MMA Awards red carpet. “I don’t work. I’m having a blast. I get to hang out with my friends who have become family. You guys have celebrated me and embraced me and have let me be a goofball in the world. You laugh at me, and I love it.”
One of the most recognizable faces in the industry, Tate has worked as a cutman for 18 years. He’s built a strong bond with many fighters – and a large online following of those who like to observe his playful and comedic interactions with some of the UFC’s top talent.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5Y_8c3PwY6/
Perhaps Tate’s most popular reoccurring Instagram segment highlights his “rivalry” with [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] and other Brazilian fighters. No setting is safe from sneak attack takedown attempts by Burns, who appears to get a tremendous amount of pleasure out of dragging Tate to the floor wherever they cross paths.
“The thing with me and Gilbert is that I’m a mouth,” Tate said. “If you ever see the content with me and DC, I just don’t know when to shut up. Exactly, I was talking trash to Gilbert and of course he took me down. So I think it started in Houston, Texas. I was like, ‘Dude, you’re not so tough.’ I grabbed him and picked him up. Then, it was on from there. Of course, he ended up beating me up. Then, when he’d have his back turned, I’d sneak in and then run away. He ate it up.
“He’s held me and the whole Brazilian community has embraced me, from him to Charles (Oliveira) to so many of the other fighters. Again, I feel like what I do is that I have a serious job and I come in there for five minutes and make it unserious. Then, they can get back to doing what they doing. That just helps me and everything else. What you see is what you get. It’s not just me hamming it up for the cameras. I really am a goofball.”
Tate recalls one time in particular that a play-scuffle with Burns almost took a turn in a Houston elevator. Luckily for the innocent bystanders, the ride was only so long.
“There was an African convention going on,” Tate said. “So we’re in the elevator. It was Gilbert and a couple of his teammates. We go at it. This woman is in the elevator and she freaks out. He’s like, ‘No, no, you guys got to stop.’ But I was already committed. I was like, ‘I’ve got to win this one because the door is open and I’ve got to run away.’ That’s the only time it’s ever happened. Now, people just kind of look and go, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ Now, when they see me and Gilbert together, they almost want to see us start fighting. I’m like, ‘OK.’ So it’s a lot of fun. It’s a blast.”
The never-ending takedown battle is just one way Tate tries to radiate good energy. He also has gone viral for his hilarious reactions to various warmup routines, including the time coach Marcio Malko gave hype slaps to Marina Rodriguez.
Tate says his usual cutman work week is limited to a couple days. While his job description centers around dressing up wounds, Tate proudly heals minds and spirits through humor and positivity.
“We typically get in on a Friday,” Tate said. “Then on that day, I do all my prep work. I make my knuckle pads. I get my gear in order for the fight that night. That’s it. I’ll go out and meet the fans and socialize. I’ll have a great time and goof off and get more content posted, laugh with the guys and then relax. A lot of it is prep work, just being ready for the fight on Saturday.”
Gilbert Burns thinks Colby Covington has the style to pose problems for Joaquin Buckley at UFC Tampa.
[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] has the style to pose problems for Joaquin Buckley.
Former interim welterweight champion Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) takes on Buckley (20-6 MMA, 10-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 63 main event at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. (ESPN2, ESPN+).
Burns points to Buckley’s loss to Logan Storley at Bellator 197 in 2018 – a fight which prompted Buckley to move up to middleweight – as a reason to favor Covington.
“I think Buckley’s in the best momentum right now, but (wrestling is) Buckley’s kryptonite,” Burns told Submission Radio. “One of my favorite teammates is Logan Storley, he was the interim Bellator champ, he fought Buckley, and Logan just outwrestled him.
“He just took him down, beat him up with ground-and-pound, took him down again, beat him up with ground-and-pound. Destroyed him with ground-and-pound, and that’s something that Colby really can do.”
Since moving back down to welterweight, Buckley is 5-0, most recently knocking out Stephen Thompson at UFC 307 in October. However, former title challenger Burns thinks if Covington can weather an early storm, he’ll swarm Buckley.
“Colby’s always training,” Burns said. “I know those guys from MMA Masters, Daniel Valverde and Cesar Carneiro, they say that he’s always in the gym. The guy is always training, he’s always in shape. I think Colby might give a lot of problems to Buckley, keep taking him down with that crazy pace.
“Buckley’s a big guy with a lot of muscle. If Buckley cannot put Colby out of there in the first or the second round, I think Colby will overwhelm him and beat him up. Colby can get maybe a dominant decision win, or Buckley can get a quick knockout in the first or in the second round.”
Gilbert Burns explains his surprising prediction for Shavkat Rahkmonov vs. Ian Machado Garry at UFC 310.
There are very few people, if any, who might have better insight into Saturday’s UFC 310 co-main event than [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag].
Burns, a former UFC welterweight title challenger and longtime contender of the division, has trained with both [autotag]Ian Machado Garry[/autotag] and [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] at Kill Cliff in South Florida. A lot has been made about the fact that Rakhmonov submitted Machado Garry in sparring and yet, Burns thinks Machado Garry can get the job done.
“I do believe (Machado Garry can beat Rakhmonov), and again, I’m not in the gym, and I wasn’t part of anyone’s camp. I was in Brazil, I had just had surgery, so I’m not training, I’m a little out of both guys’ camp,” Burns said on “Show Me The Money.” “When a guy says that, and Ian’s clip is just 20, 30 seconds, I just feel Shavkat is overconfident because he subbed him before (in training).”
Forget about the past?
Burns believes Machado Garry (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has improved a lot since that highly talked-bout training session at Kill Cliff. He thinks Rakhmonov (15-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) should be careful in not putting too much stock in the past.
“The guy that Shavkat finished a year or two ago is not the same guy right now,” Burns said. “That’s why I kind of like going with Ian. Again, I like both guys. Shavkat is part of the team now, but like I said, I have not been part of the camp. I like both guys, so I’m not picking Ian because I don’t like Shavkat. I like both guys.”
Saturday’s co-main event bout is scheduled to go for 25 minutes. Burns does think the length of the fight plays to Rakhmonov’s advantage – which makes the prediction tricky.
“I don’t think (his wrestling is good enough to get takedowns whenever he wants),” Burns said. “I think he’s very good at wrestling. I think he can work a lot of body locks and against the cage he’s very good, very tall. He’s got very good boxing, and he’s not afraid to get punched or go for the takedown. I think if the fight was three rounds, I would be big on Ian Garry because in three rounds he can be in and out like Ciryl Gane. But five rounds, maybe. It depends on how the first rounds go.”
Is Sean Brady a legit threat to the UFC welterweight title after Saturday’s win over Gilbert Burns? We discuss on “Spinning Back Clique.”
[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] logged a big win Saturday – arguably the biggest of his career.
The rising welterweight contender beat former title challenger [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] with a unanimous decision in the UFC Fight Night 242 main event in Las Vegas. The result vastly altered the landscape at the top of the UFC’s welterweight division and opened new bout possibilities.
With this result, can Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) be considered a serious threat to the belt? What’s next for Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) after his third consecutive loss?
MMA Junkie’s Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King, Danny Segura and host “Gorgeous” George Garcia discuss Brady’s dominant win over Burns, along with other key results from UFC Fight Night 242.
Watch their discussion in the video above, and don’t miss this week’s complete episode of “Spinning Back Clique” below on YouTube.
On the latest episode of Spinning Back Clique, we discuss Sean Brady’s win over Gilbert Burns, Demetrious Johnson’s retirement, UFC 306, and more.
Check out this week’s “Spinning Back Clique,” MMA Junkie’s weekly live show that takes a spin through the biggest topics in mixed martial arts.
This week’s panel of Brian “Goze” Garcia, Nolan King and Danny Segura will join host “Gorgeous” George Garcia live at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) to discuss and debate the following topics:
A couple of fresh faces stepped into title contention, while a couple of veterans were set back. Saturday at UFC Fight Night 242, [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] picked up a big win, dominating [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] to win a unanimous decision in the main event. [autotag]Natalia Silva[/autotag] also earned a win on the scorecards against former champion [autotag]Jessica Andrade[/autotag]. We discuss those two key wins, along with other highlights from the card.
UFC wasn’t the only brand in action. Bellator Champions Series: San Diego saw [autotag]Usman Nurmagomedov[/autotag] defend his lightweight title in the main event. Former UFC contender [autotag]Lorenz Larkin[/autotag] picked up a big KO win over Levan Chokheli, cementing himself as a No. 1 contender. What’s next for Nurmagomedov? Can Larkin become champion at 38? We discuss.
A legend of the game decided to hang up the gloves. Former UFC and ONE flyweight champion [autotag]Demetrious Johnson[/autotag] announced his retirement. Where does Johnson rank among the all-time greats? What legacy does he leave behind? We look back at the career of “Mighty Mouse” and his impact on MMA.
For our final segment, we look ahead to UFC 306 at Sphere in Las Vegas. The card, which celebrates Mexican Independence Day weekend, features two title fights: [autotag]Sean O’Malley[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Merab Dvlashvili[/autotag] in the main event, and [autotag]Alexa Grasso[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Valentina Shevchenko[/autotag] 3 in the co-main. We analyze the pair of championship fights, along with other featured bouts on the card.
[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] has hit uncharted territory in his career after falling short to Sean Brady in the UFC Fight Night 242 main event.
Burns’ (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) struggles to maintain his position at the top of the welterweight division continued with a unanimous decision loss to Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex. As a result, the Brazilian is now on the first three-fight losing skid of his career.
At 38, all the signs are trending in a negative direction for “Durinho,” who told MMA Junkie prior to the fight that he was looking at the matchup with Brady as the building block for a final title run.
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With those hopes seemingly washed away, what does the future hold? Watch the video above for thoughts and analysis on Burns’ future after UFC Fight Night 242.
Gilbert Burns was left having to cope with the reality of a dreaded three-fight skid after losing to Sean Brady at UFC Vegas 97.
[autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] entered UFC Fight Night 242 with aspirations of jumpstarting one last run at the welterweight title, but he left having to cope with a harsh reality thanks to Sean Brady.
In a main event that was never really close, Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) dominated Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) over the course of 25 minutes to earn a lopsided unanimous decision by scores of 50-45, 49-46, 50-45 on Saturday night at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. It was Burns’ third consecutive loss and all but assures that the 38-year-old Brazilian will never get a second chance at the 170-pound title.
Afterward, Burns was understandably dejected about his performance and the outcome of the fight.
“I’m a little bit disappointed,” Burns said in an ESPN post-fight interview with Charly Arnolt. “I know I have the grit, I know I can fight hard, but I didn’t let go.”
Burns, who came up short in his only title fight against then-champion Kamaru Usman in February 2021, believed a win over Brady could get him on the right path toward the top. He said he felt good all week, which is why the loss especially hurts.
“I just feel like – I felt great this whole freaking week,” Burns said. “I felt good in training camp. This morning was great. But when I got (to the cage), it didn’t flow. It just didn’t flow. Nothing was good. … I didn’t let it go. Props to Sean. Sean is a tough one. I hit him with some good shots, I tried to finish. I think I forced the finish too much.”
Burns isn’t sure what happens next in his career as the downward trajectory continues. He’d only thought about getting back on track before UFC Fight Night 242.
“I don’t know. That’s a good question. I didn’t think about that, so I’ve got to rethink,” Burns said. “I’ve got to go back, talk to my coaches, see what’s next. At the same time, give a little time to my family. They give up so much when I’m in a camp for a fight. I’m gonna go back, spend time with the family, go back to train. I don’t have any injuries, thank God. I lost, but at least the body is feeling good.”
UFC Fight Night 242 fighters took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay, a program that continued after the UFC’s deal with Venum.
LAS VEGAS – Fighters from Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 242 event took home UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance pay totaling $157,500.
The program, a comprehensive plan that includes outfitting requirements, media obligations and other items under the fighter code of conduct, replaces the previous payments made under the UFC Athlete Outfitting Policy.
UFC Fight Night 242 took place at the UFC Apex. The entire card streamed on ESPN+.
The full UFC Fight Night 242 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts included:
Under the UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance program’s payout tiers, which appropriate the money generated by Venum’s multi-year sponsorship with the UFC, fighters are paid based on their total number of UFC bouts, as well as Zuffa-era WEC fights (January 2007 and later) and Zuffa-era Strikeforce bouts (April 2421 and later). Fighters with 1-3 bouts receive $4,000 per appearance; 4-5 bouts get $4,500; 6-10 bouts get $6,000; 11-15 bouts earn $11,000; 16-20 bouts pocket $16,000; and 21 bouts and more get $21,000. Additionally, champions earn $42,000 while title challengers get $32,000.
In addition to experience-based pay, UFC fighters will receive in perpetuity royalty payments amounting to 20-30 percent of any UFC merchandise sold that bears their likeness, according to officials.
Full 2024 UFC Promotional Guidelines Compliance payouts:
Sean Brady dominated Gilbert Burns in a highly entertaining UFC main event.
[autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag] proved he’s among the elite of the UFC welterweight elite Saturday as he dominated a former title challenger from bell to bell.
In the UFC Fight Night 242 main event, Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defeated [autotag]Gilbert Burns[/autotag] (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Brady’s game plan from the start was the make getting a hold of Burns a priority. He pushed the pace and shoved Burns against the fence. Burns largely fended off the takedown attempts.
Burns tagged Brady numerous times in the fight, in particular during Round 3. In the seconds afterward, Brady finally got the takedown he was seeking.
Round 4 was choppy, divided by timeouts due to illegal groin shots by both men. Brady went back to his grinding game plan and pushed Burns against the fence. Burns, as he did earlier in the fight, did an excellent job of utilizing muay Thai strikes to break the grasp, even if the escape only lasted a few seconds. The final two minutes were grapple-heavy with some momentum-shifting sweeps and scrambles.
Both men dug deep in the final round. Burns half-landed a big flying knee, but Brady caught hold of him and eventually got him down to the canvas. Brady finished the fight on top – and ultimately earned 14 of the 15 round scorecards from the three judges scoring.
After the fight, Brady called for his next matchup to be vs. a top-five opponent, or Ian Machado Garry.
With the victory, Brady picks up his biggest victory to date over a former UFC title challenger. Brady has now won back-to-back fights since his lone career loss, a TKO defeat to now-champion Belal Muhammad.
In defeat, Burns has lost three fights in a row. Defeats to Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena accompany the loss to Brady. At 38, it’s his longest skid of his professional career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 242 results include:
Sean Brady def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45)
