Gilbert
Burns claims to have fully recovered from his shoulder injury
and is plotting a return to the Octagon, with a specific foe in
mind.
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Burns (22-6) is coming off a decision loss against Belal
Muhammad at UFC 288 in July after appearing to damage his left
hand early in the fight. “Durinho” went on to severely injure his
shoulder in training, which has kept him on the shelf ever since.
The Brazilian now claims to have fully recovered from the injury
and is now back to training. Burns
told MMA Junkie:
“I’m 100 percent and back to training. I’m in no pain and injury
free. I didn’t get surgery. I almost did. My ligament was barely
hanging on my shoulder. My deltoid and my AC joint was very
compromised, so I had to rest a lot. I couldn’t do anything for
like three months, and then I started my (physical therapy), and
then I put a couple of stem cells, and now I’m back to
training.”
While Burns is eyeing a return in March or April and is already in
touch with the UFC execs, he has yet to be offered any potential
opponents. The Brazilian has reportedly been asked to wait for the
upcoming UFC 296 which has six ranked welterweights competing
including Leon
Edwards defending his title against former interim champ
Colby
Covington.
While Muhammad was expected to get the next title shot after
beating Burns, the promotion elected to go with Covington. Burns is
now eyeing a clash against Covington, implying that he does not
expect “Chaos” to beat Edwards. The 37-year-old said:
“We talked to Hunter (Campbell) and we didn’t get options yet. No
names yet they’re throwing at me, and they’re saying let’s wait
until UFC 296 and after that we’ll talk about opponent.
“But I kind of have a date,” Burns added. “I think I’m fighting
March or April, UFC 299 or UFC 300. Both dates are good, but let’s
see how UFC 296 plays out first, because one opponent I would
really like to fight is Colby
Covington. He is fighting for the title, so that’s not even a
possibility. I have to wait for all that going on.”