Las Vegas, NV — Gilbert Burns knows he went “Cody Garbrandt crazy” in his loss to Kamaru Usman at UFC 258.
Burns had Usman hurt early in the welterweight title fight. Getting “overexcited” was the result, however, and Burns got sloppy looking for the finish rather than sticking to his game plan. That led to Usman finishing him by TKO in the third, dropping the challenger with a jab that had proven increasingly effective throughout the fight.
Getting too worked up during a bout has happened before, the Brazilian admitted following the event. “I made the same mistake when I fought Dan Hooker. I got overexcited.”
“To become a champion, I cannot make those mistakes, you know? The way I see it right now, I just want to do like Robbie Lawler,” he explained, speaking to media outlets including Cageside Press. “He was the only guy, if I’m not wrong, that lost to Johny Hendricks, and then just got right back, got a couple wins, fought again, and became a champion. That’s exactly what I want to do.”
So after a bit of family time, the plan is to get right back in the gym, said Burns. “I hope I don’t get a crazy suspension.”
“I want to fight as quick as I can. I know I can do it,” he added. “It was almost done, but I cannot make those mistakes to become a champion.”
The big storyline heading into Usman vs. Burns at UFC 258 was their status as friends and former training partners. That relationship made it a little bit more difficult to contain his emotions, Burns admitted. “But when we get in there, we’re going to fight. It’s not tennis, it’s not soccer. It’s a fight. But I have a lot of respect for [Kamaru Usman]. I’m never going to say nothing bad about him. I know his daughter, all his family.”
Burns, 34, saw his record fall to 19-4 with the loss, which snapped a six-fight win streak for the former lightweight.
Watch the full UFC 258 post-fight press conference with Gilbert Burns above.
