Gilbert Burns won’t make any excuses for his loss to Belal Muhammad, but that fight definitely cost him a lot.
Not only did it set Burns back in the chase towards another title shot, but the veteran welterweight ultimately had to sit out for the past 10 months recovering from a shoulder injury suffered in that fight. It was quite possibly the worst circumstance that Burns has faced during his entire career after Muhammad blocked a takedown attempt in the opening round, and then Burns had to spend the next 20-plus minutes fighting with one arm.
“Sometimes it takes me a little bit of time to start feeling good in the fight. I was like, ‘Let me try a takedown,’” Burns told MMA Fighting. “I remember when he was kicking, I jumped to a takedown, but instead of running with my feet, I just dove to a takedown. Belal Muhammad did a great job doing a down block. So he did the down block, I came with all my weight plus Muhammad’s weight on my shoulder, and I smashed into the floor with the shoulder. That’s exactly when [the injury occurred].
“I didn’t know I was injured but I knew something was happening, so I was trying to take my time. After that, I couldn’t do nothing with my left arm. That was maybe three minutes, two minutes in the first round.”
Knowing that his arm was completely compromised, Burns could have easily informed his coaches and stopped the fight, but he kept going until the final horn. Burns says the result was the same either way, but at least he tried his best to find a way to win.
“I was not going to quit on myself,” Burns said. “Never. I was trying to figure out a way [to win]. I got frustrated a couple of times. I was trying to kick, then he was catching my kicks, and then I had to post with the injured arm on the floor so it wasn’t the best feeling. I wasn’t going to quit on myself. If there’s a small possibility to win, I’m going to try. I’m not going to quit or just get out of the fight because of a couple of circumstances.
“That was a mental battle at that moment. ‘Wow, really I cannot punch? I cannot take this guy down? It’s going to be like that? OK, let’s figure out a way,’ and then I was trying to get focused on the fight and my coach was trying to get me to focus on the fight, but it was very hard. A couple guys, Joe Rogan and other guys [said], ‘You should have stopped.’ Yeah, I probably should, but in the fight, I already accepted I might lose, I might get hurt. You accept that. When I’m in the fight, I’m going to try to find any way possible to win the fight. It was a very frustrating moment.”
In the aftermath of that injury, Burns was terrified that he might have to undergo surgery, which could’ve kept him out of action for an even longer period of time. Thankfully, Burns said his doctors advised him that the injury could heal on its own, but he still needed to rest and recover without pushing himself too hard or he might end up on the operating table.
“It was an AC joint, very severe tear, and the deltoids right in the front of the shoulder,” Burns revealed. “That was a severe tear, too. Then I tore a bunch of muscles and I tore my trapezius muscle as well. It was a very hard injury.
“I almost [had surgery]. We did a stem cell shot and [waited] a month to see if we still needed surgery. After a month, my tendon, my ligaments were getting better. So we did another stem cell [injection] and we didn’t have to go through the surgery.”
The fight with Muhammad came together on short notice after UFC 288 needed a co-main event, so Burns accepted the opportunity just four weeks after he defeated Jorge Masvidal in a three-round fight.
Looking back now, Burns acknowledges that he probably should’ve taken a longer break between fights because the showdown with Muhammad was already his third scheduled appearance in a five-month period to start 2023.
There’s nothing he can do about it now, but Burns says he learned a valuable lesson which forced him to reevaluate how he approaches his attitude of never turning down a fight.
“Thinking back now, it was too close to get three fights in five months, especially the last one being a five-round fight,” Burns said. “It was just too much on my body. For sure, I want to save a card. For sure, I wanted to become the No. 1 contender, but it would’ve been way smarter if I said, ‘Give me a little break and let me rest up a little bit.’ Leon [Edwards] hadn’t even fought Colby [Covington] yet. Yeah, I should wait, but when the opportunity came, I just put my hands up like I always do.
“No excuses. I accepted the fight, wanted the fight. I wanted the No. 1 contender fight. Belal Muhammad was the best man that night. That’s it. Now I have a little criteria before I get a fight, especially a short-notice fight. I had three weight cuts, training camps — for sure, one time the body’s going to break. Mentally, we’re not breaking, but the body will break.”
On Saturday night at UFC 299, Burns returns for a matchup against Jack Della Maddalena that not only offers him the chance to get back on track, but also pits him against a highly-touted prospect with an undefeated record in the octagon.
Technically, Burns faces a less experienced opponent who doesn’t have nearly as many accolades, or even the kind of ranking that would mean more in a chase towards title contention. Those factors may matter again in the future, but for right now Burns just wants to fight, and when the UFC gave him Della Maddalena as a name, he simply answered, ‘Yes.’
“Why not? I’m going to be running behind a number? I’m No. 4?” Burns said. “No, it was about that time. I want to get back to the win column and I want to fight for the title. I need to get a win. I want to get a win.
“So whoever they put in front of me, I’m going to say yes. But for sure, after I get back in the win column, then I can pick and choose a little bit more, make a good callout. But coming from a loss, I just need to put my head down, say I’m ready, get the name, and get the job done.”
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