Gilbert Burns is returning to the octagon to fight Stephen Thompson at UFC 264 at the T-Mobile Arena on July 10, 2021. However, no one wanted to fight Burns after he lost to Kamaru Usman at UFC 258.
Both Burns and Thompson agreed verbally for the match-up on April 3, 2021. But recently UFC President Dana White confirmed the fight when Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier signed their contract last week.
Nevertheless, Gilbert Burns seems happy to fight Thompson as he already knows the opponent. “I know him pretty well because I was cornering his center looking when he when he beat Luke and yeah I still want to get revenge my friend,” Durinho conveyed.
On the other hand, Burns is also concerned about Thompson’s toughness. He is #5 in the UFC welterweight rankings. “I think he’s a very tough opponent,” Burns conveyed his concern.
However, Burns does not worry about Thompson’s actions. Moreover, he is grateful to Stephen as he is the one who actually stepped up to fight Burns.
Gilbert Burns of Brazil celebrates after his TKO victory over Demian Maia of Brazil in their welterweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event on March 14, 2020 in Brasilia, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Zuffa LLC)
The 34-year-old wanted to come back as early as possible after the loss at UFC 258. Burns offered fights to all the top five contenders, but “other guys said no.” Further, Burns said, “It was offered to a lot of guys to all the top five guys not counting for sure Usman and Masdale, but he was the only one saying yes.”
This will be the first fight for Burns since his last appearance in February, where he gave up his six-fight win streak. Gilbert achieved four impressive victories after moving up from 155 pounds to face the title shot at Welterweight Championship. With the next fight against Thompson, Burns will look to get back in title contention.
