Las Vegas, NV — Gilbert and Herbert Burns made a little history in the past week. Not that they were necessarily aware of it.
Gilbert won the main event at UFC Vegas, defeating ex-champ Tyron Woodley in a lop-sided decision. The very next fight to transpire in the octagon came a week later, at UFC 250, where Herbert Burns picked up a submission win over Evan Dunham.
Back-to-back wins for the Burns brothers.
It appears to be a first. Joe and Dan Lauzon both fought at UFC 108, but not consecutively, and neither earned a win that night. The Miller brothers, Jim and Dan, fought at UFC 124, both earning wins, but not consecutively. Dan Miller earned a split decision over Joe Doerksen on the prelims; two fights later, Jim Miller submitted Charles Oliveira via kneebar. Just months later, the brothers would be booked into back-to-back fights on the main card of UFC 128, but while Jim earned a victory over Kamal Shalorus, Dan Miller lost a decision against Nate Marquardt.
The same situation befell the Nogueira brothers at UFC 140. In back to back fights, Little Nog won, while Big Nog lost. At UFC 190, both lost, and not in consecutive bouts anyway. The Pettis brothers both lost at UFC 185.
Of course, the Burns brother’s back-to-back wins didn’t come on the same card. Maybe next time. But it’s still a little feather in their cap.
“No, I didn’t realize that. That’s impressive. Yeah. Back-to-back fights,” Herbert Burns reflected after his win Saturday, speaking to Cageside Press. “And back-to-back fashionable performances. The Burns brothers are no joke. We’re the real deal. We came here to make history. We are on the way to do that.”
The goal on Saturday against Evan Dunham, Burns said backstage in Las Vegas, was to “go there and go with jiu-jitsu. I did that, I proved that I’m a real threat in the division.”
Speaking on the choke that finished Dunham at UFC 250, Burns explained that once he had a body triangle in, “I could feel he was struggling with the pressure. It was a matter of time for me to sink the choke in. I had to roll him over so I could get a good angle on the choke. When I managed to do that, my arm was very, very deep. So even with his chin down, it was just a matter of squeezing and keeping the pressure on.”
The Burns brothers, he added, like to stay busy. With that in mind, Burns is already scouting out his next date. “I want to fight on the Fight Island. We know the location now. They already said it’s based in Abu Dhabi. So that’s the plan, the plan is to go there and fight again soon. And hopefully against a good guy.”
As to who that would be, “Bryce Mitchell and Ryan Hall, those two guys are on my radar,” Burns stated.
