3 huge UFC fights rumored, including Gilbert Burns and Maycee Barber's return 

Gilbert Burns and Maycee Barber are reportedly set to return to the octagon at UFC 299 in March 2024. An exciting bantamweight title rematch between Sean O'Malley and Marlon Vera will headline the highly anticipated pay-per-view event.

According to a report by @Bendaman2001 on X, the promotion is working on booking a welterweight barnburner between Burns and Jack Della Maddalena for the UFC 299 event in Miami. However, the journalist later stated that the fight could also take place in Anaheim, California, on an unconfirmed date.

Gilbert Burns is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 288 and is 3-2 in his last five outings. Meanwhile, Jack Della Maddalena is on a 16-fight unbeaten streak and last beat Kevin Holland via split decision at Noche UFC.

According to MMA reporter Alex Behunin, UFC women's flyweight contender Maycee Barber has also been booked to face Katlyn Chookagian at UFC 299. Barber's on a five-fight winning streak and last beat Amanda Ribas via second-round TKO at UFC on ABC 5.

Meanwhile, Chookagian has been out of action since her unanimous decision loss against Manon Fiorot at UFC 280 in October 2022, which also stopped her four-fight win streak.

Apart from these two matchups for UFC 299, MMA journalist Brett Okamoto recently reported that the promotion had booked a featherweight fight between Dan Ige and Lerone Murphy. In a recent tweet, Okamoto stated that the bout will go down on February 10, 2024.

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Gilbert Burns on Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington at UFC 296

Gilbert Burns recently shared his prediction for the upcoming Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington welterweight title fight at UFC 296. The Brazilian stated that he sees Edwards retaining his championship and thinks the Englishman is a tougher fight for Covington than Kamaru Usman.

Edwards and Covington will throw down on December 11 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While many expected Belal Muhammad to challenge for the 170-pound title next, the promotion decided to give 'Chaos' the title shot.

In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Gilbert Burns weighed in on the Edwards-Covington title fight. When asked for his prediction, he replied:

"I think it’s a good matchup for Leon, to be honest, because Kamaru Usman had a lot of success against Colby when he was southpaw... I think he’s going to be able to defend the takedowns and kind of outstrike [Covington] because of his precision... It’s not going to be easy, but I think he’s going to get it done.”

Catch Burn's comments below (6:30):