Even though he fell two spots in the UFC welterweight rankings
after a unanimous decision loss to Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC 273, Gilbert
Burns doesn’t regret the decision to take the fight.
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“That was my 18th fight in eight years in the UFC. I fought some of
the toughest guys in two divisions, fought for the belt once and
have never been invited to lunch with Dana White like I was right
after the war against Chimaev,” Burns told Sherdog.com.
According to Burns, big fights and also the possibility of signing
a more lucrative new contract were also on the menu during lunch
with the UFC president. While Burns says White didn’t give him a
list of potential matchups, he already has his own preferences in
mind.
“We didnt talk about specific opponents, but I would consider big
fights [against] Colby [Covington], [Jorge] Masvidal, Nick Diaz,
Nate
Diaz, Dustin
Poirier and the rematch with Chimaev,” he said. “If I could
choose, the immediate rematch with Chimaev would be my first
option. But this time I would make just one request: that the fight
be five rounds. That’s my biggest regret in that fight. I agreed to
fight an opponent nine positions under me to help the UFC. I have
Dana´s phone number. I should have called him and insisted that
five rounds would be my only condition.
“I felt his mind break a couple of times during the fight. I
believe if I had two more rounds, the fight could have gone
differently. The feeling that I have is that my business with
Chimaev is not finished. We still have some extra rounds to
fight.”
In such a competitive weight class, Burns understands that his
wishes may not fit in with the UFC’s plans, especially after
Belal
Muhammad’s victory over Vicente
Luque in the UFC on ESPN 34 headliner earlier this month.
“I´ve been working hard for the company. I think I deserve a big
fight next, but I´m a UFC employee,” he said. “If they want to put
me against Belal, I will accept this Plan B. Vicente is like my
younger brother. I was sure he was going to win that fight. I don’t
want to take anything from Belal, no doubt he had a great strategy,
but I truly believe he was on his best night and Luque was on his
worst. In that case, of course I would love to beat him up and
avenge my brother.”