Miami, FL – All the talk is about his opponent being from the city they’ll be fighting in but UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns is excited to fight in Miami in front of friends and family against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287.
“So excited to be back here again. Second fight at home. First one home in Brazil, second one home here. Excited,” Burns told reporters on Wednesday.
“I got a lot of family, friends, teammates, students, fans. A lot of people coming, I’m excited.”
Masvidal (35-16) gets the most recognition for being from the 305, but Burns has been living there for quite a while too. Even though his opponent will likely get the bulk of the support from the city Burns likes it.
“For sure he’s born and raised. He might have a lot of people coming here for him, but I like it,” he said.
Burns (21-5) isn’t overlooking his opponent at UFC 287 even if Masvidal is coming into the fight riding a three-fight losing streak.
“Very dangerous. Crazy striking, lot of knockouts, 51 fights. Plus the ones that never went to the record. The backyard ones. For sure very experienced. Not coming from a win streak, coming from a losing streak, but very dangerous too. Very dangerous,” said Burns.
“Specially with his back against the wall, fighting at home, come from three loses. Fighting Gilbert Burns. Yeah bro, a lot of pressure on this guy and he seems like he deals good with the pressure.”
Masvidal hasn’t shown any hints of worry or hesitation all fight week long. Burns knows it and knows how dangerous that makes ‘Gamebred’ in a fight.
“He going to come crazy and I’m excited for it. I’m not seeing an easy fight. He’s not a top contender, but he’s a big name.”
The big name part isn’t just good for Masvidal or the UFC, but for Burns’ aspirations to get to a title shot sooner than later. Plenty of examples exist of fighters getting title shots off of beating opponents with big names even if their recent record isn’t the best.
“Everyone knows him. Like if you remember Leon Edwards got a title shot beating Nate Diaz that wasn’t in the ranking, that wasn’t coming from a win, and Nate Diaz not here no more,” Burns said.
“I think that other guy is Masvidal. So I like that fight. Big name, superstar, ranked. Fought for the title twice. If he beats me maybe get another title shot. So yeah I like that fight.”
Watch the entire media day scrum with Gilbert Burns above. He takes on Jorge Masvidal in the co-main event of UFC 287 on Saturday night in Miami, FL.
