Gilbert Burns is back to turn the tide in his favor by spectacularly submitting Neil Magny at UFC 283. The Brazilian last fought the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev, in April of last year and lost the bout via unanimous decision. But now, with his smashing return, ‘Durinho’ is now only looking up and ahead, all the way to the title shot. And it appears that Burns has started making the move toward his quest already. The 36-year-old took to his Instagram to call out the former Interim UFC Welterweight Champion Colby Covington. Burns has big plans with his UFC tenure now, and he’s aiming for a TUF fight with the #2 welterweight stalwart. Having said that, it appears this call-out rings just the right bell to the UFC community who have expressed their thoughts on this potential matchup.
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Additionally, Burns does have a backup plan with a few other fighters he’s named that he has on his radar if Covington ‘runs’ away. But he is the Brazilian’s first pick and the fans are hyped to see them square off.
Gilbert Burns vs. Colby Covington gets a green signal from the UFC world
It is all gleams and glory for Gilbert Burns now, following his remarkable success at the UFC 283. But he’s already fired up for his next challenge. Hence, Burns has also called Colby Covington with a very specific message in an effort to start the rest of the season strong.
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Burns wrote, “Ready or not, here I came you can’t hide gonna find you!”
Check out how the fans reacted to this bold call out by Gilbert Burns:
UFC stars like Amanda Ribas and Ian Garry expressed their excitement for this matchup:
Amanda Ribas: “👏👏👏👏”
Ian Garry: “This would be 🔥🔥🔥”
One fan labeled this as a ‘perfect’ call-out:
“Perfect call out, showed yesterday why you’re the toughest path to a title for anyone. Excited to see you in a title fight soon!!”
Several Colby Covington supporters advised Gilbert Burns against this:
“Colby by slaughter”
“😂Colby by pure chaos”
“Don’t EVER call out Colby he’s gonna fuck you up boy”
Wherein ‘Durniho’ fans believe it’ll there won’t be much of a ‘Chaos’ in this bout:
“Colby gonna call the cops 😂”
“LETS GOOOO GILBERT 🦍😤”
“He is scared of you!”
“Looks like someone is going to lose their teeth again🚬”
However, as excited as this match sounds, what if it doesn’t go as planned? Well, Gilbert Burns has some other exciting names that might make for an equally savage clash.
If not Colby Covington, then who?
As ready as Gilbert Burns is for the Colby Covington fight, he’s taking into account the practicality of the situation. Burns is going for a proactive approach for his next fight and if it’s not the ‘Chaos’, he is happy to take on Belal Muhammad, Jorge Masvidal, or even his last opponent, Khamzat Chimaev. ‘Durinho’ explained in his post-fight interview that why he doesn’t want to wait on Covington alone.
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Burns said, “If Colby doesn’t want, UFC doesn’t want this fight, give me Belal(Muhammad), give me (Jorge) Masvidal. I don’t know, I don’t care.” He further added, “I want a busy year and I want to establish. I don’t want no favor, I want to establish myself as the next guy fighting for the title.”
All these fights have blockbuster written all over them. But the Brazilian has his eyes set on Colby Covington.
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Who do you think would have an upper hand in this matchup? Gilbert Burns or Colby Covington? Let us know in the comments below.