Gilbert Burns didn’t walk into UFC Winnipeg with retirement on his mind, but after suffering a third-round knockout loss to Mike Malott in the main event, he realized it was time to walk away.
The veteran welterweight and one-time title challenger retired from the sport after his loss and while he was understandably emotional after making the announcement, the decision itself wasn’t rooted in an overreaction to a tough defeat. The fight marked Burns’ fifth consecutive loss but even that didn’t necessarily
determine that he was done.
Instead, Burns explains it came down to the level of his competition and not wanting to overstay his welcome.
“I kind of felt if I cannot beat Mike Malott, all due respect to him but I don’t think he’s the highest level in the UFC, if I cannot beat him, I shouldn’t be doing this,” Burns told MMA Fighting. “I’m done. It’s nothing against him. Nothing about him. It’s about me. I do believe in all of my abilities but if you get to a point where I cannot beat these guys then I’m done. Then I don’t want to do this no more. Because the way I got into the UFC was to become the champion, to be the best. To really make a mark. I was doing that. I was fighting tough competition and I was doing good. Going head to head with everybody, losing here, losing there, no problem but when you see the last couple of fights, Belal [Muhammad] became a champion, Jack [Della Maddalena] became a champion, Sean Brady is top 5, Michael Morales maybe fighting for a title if not a top contender and Mike Malott was the only unranked guy that I fought in the previous fights.
“I liked the guy. The guy was very gentle, super nice guy, him and his whole team. He gave me a voice, he was making the whole crowd go crazy for me but losing to him, I knew I had to close that chapter. I didn’t come to this sport just to be another guy.”
While Malott has been tapped as the best prospect coming out of Canada, he hasn’t faced a murderer’s row when it comes to his UFC résumé. Overall, the 34-year-old fighter holds a 7-1 record, but Burns was the first ranked opponent he faced with Malott’s one loss coming via TKO to longtime welterweight stalwart Neil Magny.
Burns promises he has nothing but respect for Malott and his team but he used that fight as a gauge to figure out where he fit in the larger hierarchy at 170 pounds. Losing to an unranked opponent was the sign Burns needed to move on to the next stage of his life and put fighting behind him.
“The Mike Malott fight for me was clear. I’m not at that level no more,” Burns said. “That’s freaking life. It is what it is. It hurts a little bit but you’ve got to man up. I’ve got to make the best decision for me and for my family. I could do one more. Yes but why? I don’t have to. So I want to move on and I want to get the next chapter of my career.”
Post-fight retirements aren’t uncommon in the UFC, but Burns didn’t have any grand elaborate plans to make that call heading into the fight.
Burns actually had a callout ready to go if he beat Malott and he mapped out what he expected to serve as the final three-fight plan that would lead to him calling it a career.
“I believed I was going to win,” Burns said. “I think Mike Malott is a great fighter but I do believe I was going to win and I have everything it takes to win. If I was winning, I was going to call out Colby [Covington] for International Fight Week. I had a whole plan.
“With a win, if I go out there and I beat this guy and I do a big callout for International Fight Week, then it makes sense. Then I think the UFC would give the Colby fight to me. Then after the Colby fight, then maybe the last one I do a retirement fight in Brazil. That was my plan. If everything went my way, it would be Colby Covington on International Fight Week and then it would be Daniel Rodriguez or Kevin Holland or Leon Edwards, retirement fight in Brazil. That’s what was going through my mind. That’s why I said three more fights, that was the way I thinking. But in the back of my head I was thinking if I can’t beat Mike Malott, if I lose, if I got finished, I’m done.”
As tough as it was ending his career on a five-fight losing streak, Burns didn’t want to keep going in hopes of chasing a win.
That mindset has doomed many veteran fighters and legends of the sport, which is something Burns didn’t want for himself or his family. So he decided enough was enough and laid his gloves down in the center of the octagon and he’s resolved in his decision to retire from the sport.
“Like B.J. Penn, I’m a huge fan, I was always a fan but I don’t think he finished the way he should,” Burns said. “He [lost] a couple fights and it’s like why does B.J. keep doing that? Vitor Belfort, the last couple of fights it wasn’t the best fights. Why do you keep doing that? Even Anderson Silva, other great fighters, I’m not calling you guys out, I’m just saying you should be more careful the way you finish your career.
“I have a five [fight] losing streak already. I’m done. At least I fought the best of the best. I’m done. If I feel like I cannot beat this guy, I’m done. I was at peace. It was still an emotional moment but it was the right decision.”
