Gilbert Burns couldn’t make a date with Jorge Masvidal work, so it appears he’s moved on from the fight.
Instead, Burns is being lined up to face Neil Magny as part of UFC 283 in his native Brazil. The first Pay-Per-View event of 2023 for the promotion lands in Rio de Janeiro on January 21, 2023.
ESPN was first to report news of the match-up. Magny and Burns had both previously discussed the booking, with Burns taking to social media to say “Congrats Neil Magny, last time I head UFC said I have an opponent for [Brazil], if he doesn’t show up, we can dance,” after Magny’s win over Daniel Rodrogiez, adding “I’m in 100% to make this fight happen!”
Magny, as mentioned, defeated “D-Rod” earlier this month, earning a submission win and surpassing Georges St. Pierre to take sole possession of the UFC’s welterweight wins record, at 20. The victory also saw Magny bounce back from a loss to Shavkat Rakhmonov, and improve to 3-2 in his last five fights.
Burns is coming off a hard-fought decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273 in April. That dropped him to 1-2 in his last three bouts, though the other loss was a failed title bid against Kamaru Usman.
Prior to the Chimaev fight, which earned Fight of the Night, Burns had notched a win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
UFC 283 takes place at the Jeunesse Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on January 21, 2023. The following fights are anticipated for the event:
- Deiveson Figueiredo (c) vs. Brandon Moreno (ic) – for the UFC flyweight championship / title unification bout
- Shogun Rua vs. Ihor Potieria
- Paul Craig vs. Johnny Walker
- Warlley Alves vs. Nicolas Dalby
- Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Jailton Almeida
- Thiago Moisés vs. Guram Kutateladze
- Terrance McKinney vs. Ismael Bonfim
- Brad Tavares vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Jéssica Andrade vs. Lauren Murphy
- Mounir Lazzez vs. Gabriel Bonfim
- Josiane Nunes vs. Zarah Fairn Dos Santos
- Gilbert Burns vs. Neil Magny
