‘Dana White Is Very Emotional’- Gilbert Burns Defends His Performance Against Stephen Thompson at UFC 264

Former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns made a successful comeback after his title fight loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 258. He defeated veteran Stephen Thompson in the co main event of UFC 264.

‘Durinho’ and ‘Wonderboy’ went the distance, with the latter claiming a unanimous decision win. Although he seemed pretty content with the win after the match, the same couldn’t be said for his boss Dana White.

The UFC supremo had shown his displeasure in the post-event media interview. He had emphasized that Burns merely won the fight and nothing more against Thompson.

‘Durinho’ though, doesn’t want to get pressed under the criticism. According to him, he did what he had to do, and that was to make a comeback after his previous loss.

“I was very nervous coming from a knockout loss against the champion and trying to rebuild myself again, make sure I do believe in what I said, that I still have time to be a champion,” he said.

While it could be a concerning thing for Burns as the boss may be reluctant to give him a title fight soon after judging his performance. But Burns doesn’t seem to be bothered about it.

He instead gave an example of Ciryl Gane. His style of competing did not impress White, but he still gave him the title fight.

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“(White is) very hard nowadays. Dana White’s very emotional, for sure. He wants my fight to be a banger. He wants Conor McGregor’s fight to be a banger, and I understand. As a promoter, that’s what you have to do. I understand his opinion, but I don’t rely on it. That’s not going to define what I do next,” he added.

Gilbert Burns wants Leon Edwards next

Dana White recently announced a rematch for the welterweight title between Usman and Covington at UFC 268. Just shortly after the announcement, Burns took to Twitter and presented a challenge to Edwards for the co-main event.

Edwards is currently enjoying a purple patch and hasn’t lost in 10 fights. He is knocking on the doors of the championship repeatedly but always sees himself a step behind. A matchup with Burns could be a title eliminator and a win would surely fetch him the gold fight next.

As for Burns, he has lost just once in his last 8 fights and the win over Thompson has put his title aspirations back on track. It will be interesting to see if UFC goes this way. This could set up a perfect welterweight title matchup after the event.

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