Gilbert Burns was successful in his UFC BJJ debut this past June, tapping out Horlando Monteiro in just over a minute not long after he officially retired from MMA. Now, “Durinho” is open to competing in other forms of combat sports in his post-MMA life.
The former UFC welterweight title contender recently sat down with MMA Fighting’s José Youngs at UFC White House radio row and revealed he “for sure” is interested in wrestling for RAF, a freestyle wrestling promotion that has brought in several current
and former UFC talent to the mats.
“My wrestling is there, you know?” Burns said. “It sucks that my last couple of fights I couldn’t show a lot of my wrestling, my grappling, but I’ve always been training, I’ve always been improving. For sure I’d do wrestling.”
Burns’ past foe Khamzat Chimaev recently made his RAF debut with a win over jiu-jitsu specialist Dillon Danis, but weighed in at over 203 pounds for that match. Chimaev is set to return to the mats for a match with Tyron Woodley on Sept. 5. Burns, however, sounds more interested in facing Colby Covington, an opponent he frequently targeted during his time in the UFC.
“[Chimaev] huge right now, but yeah,” Burns said, listing other potential opponents. “Arman [Tsarukyan], Colby [Covington] is over there. Everyone’s there. Finally [put my hands on Covington], right? That would be a good one. RAF, I’ll do the wrestling. Let’s do it.”
Covington defeated Tsarukyan to clinch a belt in his most recent RAF appearance, improving to 4-0 in the promotion with previous wins over Luke Rockhold, Dillon Danis and Chris Weidman, and is scheduled to face Belal Muhammad in the main event of RAF 13 on Sept. 19.
Burns said life is “busier than I thought” as a retired MMA fighter now that he’s running his own gym in Florida and also managing fighters. As a competitor, he was victorious in his UFC BJJ debut and voiced his interest in facing the likes of Anthony Pettis, Nate Diaz, Demian Maia, Kron Gracie, Benson Henderson, Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Chiesa, Colby Covington and Dustin Poirier in the bowl.
“I think nowadays it’s too much entertainment,” Burns said of the current landscape of jiu-jitsu with UFC BJJ, CJI and other no-gi grappling promotions. “People are not going to stop to see a freaking 10-minute match with the gi. I don’t do it. So think about the guys that don’t do jiu-jitsu. I think it’s just more entertainment with no-gi. Technically-wise, they just need a little bit more leg locks. That’s the biggest thing. But other than that, still jiu-jitsu, still a lot of wrestling, still a lot of cardio, still top position, bottom position, look for submission. But I think the biggest difference is no-gi got bigger and more leg locks in the game.”
