"Masvidal retirement party" - Majority of fans backing Gilbert Burns to pick up "easy win" over Jorge Masvidal

MMA fans have been leaning heavily in Gilbert Burns' favor after Dana White announced he would be facing Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 in April.

The bout, confirmed yesterday by the UFC president, marks the return of Masvidal following his unanimous decision loss to Colby Covington in March last year. 'Gamebred' attacked Covington outside a Miami restaurant days after his loss and has been charged with aggravated battery and one count of criminal mischief.

For Burns, the bout with Jorge Masvidal is a quick turnaround following his first-round submission win over Neil Magny last weekend. The Brazilian has been pushing for a fight with the 38-year-old Miami native for some time and is favored by fans to get the win.

MMA fans have been reacting to the above post by @ESPNMMA with one fan suggesting that the bout could be a "retirement party" for 'Gamebred':

"Masvidal retirement party"

Another fan referenced Masvidal's attack on Covington and jokingly asked which restaurant Gilbert Burns would later be jumped outside of:

"Which restaurant is Masvidal gonna gank Burns at after he gets 50-44'd?"

Instagram user @hgreer967 even went as far as to say that the fight is a guaranteed victory for 'Durinho':

"This fight isn't gonna be competitive. Burns 100 percent."

Check out more fan reactions here:

Chael Sonnen's words of advice for Jorge Masvidal

2019 was the year of Jorge Masvidal as the American rose to star status with finishes over Darren Till, Ben Askren, and Nate Diaz.

Since then, the 38-year-old has been on a three-fight skid, which includes back-to-back losses to Kamaru Usman and a unanimous decision loss to Colby Covington. With Masvidal now expected to return to the octagon against Gilbert Burns, it's imperative he finds the form that catapulted him to stardom.

In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel earlier this month, Chael Sonnen had some words of advice for Masvidal regarding his matchups going forward:

"Masvidal appears to me to be putting a lot of eggs in the basket of Kamaru Usman doesn't show up in March, he steps in. Three-piece and a soda gets answered for. It's a risk, it's an outside shot."

Sonnen also pushed for Jorge Masvidal to call out UFC welterweight champ Leon Edwards, which would be hard to deny when you consider his history with 'Rocky':

"Coming out telling the world, 'Don't call for me. Don't ask me to fight anybody. My next fight is gonna be Leon... He's got Kamaru [Usman] in March so I probably won't see him till July after he gets his a** kicked.' All of a sudden people are going to be looking that a little bit different. That would be one option, but that's the way to approach the Leon situation."

Catch the full video here:

Edited by Aziel Karthak