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After angling for a fight at UFC 283 in Rio de Janeiro, Gilbert Burns has seemingly been granted his wish. As per ESPN MMA's Brett Okamoto, the UFC is reportedly close to finalizing a bout between the No.5-ranked welterweight and Neil Magny.
Check out the tweet below:
Burns has not fought since his unanimous decision loss to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273. Meanwhile, Magny is coming off of a third-round submission victory over Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Fight Night: Rodriguez vs. Lemos.
His performance was significant as he moved past UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre for the most welterweight wins in UFC history.
Following his record-setting performance, the No.12-ranked welterweight angled for a fight against Burns. In his post-fight interview, Magny stated:
"Gilbert Burns, let's do it in Brazil. It's January 21st, right around the corner. Let's just bring it to the top five, let's go!"
Watch Neil Magny's call-out below (starting at the 1:35 mark):
Burns took to Twitter to respond to Magny's call-out, saying:
"Congrats @NeilMagny last time I heard @ufc said I have an opponent for [Brazil] if he doesn’t show up, we can dance I’m in 100% to make this Fight happen! For now great finish and congrats on your record!"
Check out Gilbert Burns' response below:
Gilbert Burns on Jorge Masvidal turning down the opportunity to fight him three times
Prior to his rumored bout against Neil Magny, Gilbert Burns was angling for a fight against Jorge Masvidal. The No. 5-ranked welterweight recently took to Twitter to call out Masvidal, accusing him of turning down a potential match on three separate occasions, stating:
"Just letting everyone know that @ufc offered me @GamebredFighter 3x. First time was for Nov 12. He said he needs more time, second time for Dec 10, he said he was going to [Brazil] to fight me and now he just said no again! So I guess the B from his BMF belt doesn’t stand for bad."
Burns claimed that he was offered Masvidal as an opponent at UFC 281, UFC 282, and UFC 283. The No.11-ranked welterweight, however, denied these claims, noting that he never agreed to any fight due to his ongoing court case.
'Gamebred' shared that he would be willing to fight Burns in the United Kingdom when Leon Edwards is expected to defend his belt against Kamaru Usman.
While Masvidal had previously been angling to be Edwards' first title defense, he appears to have moved on from that idea. Masvidal has lost his last three fights inside the octagon and will hope to return to winning ways at the earliest.
Check out Gilbert Burns' tweet below:
