“I Don’t Know if He’s as Hungry as He Was” – Veteran Coach Reveals Reason for Picking Gilbert Burns Over Jorge Masvidal for UFC 287

Jorge Masvidal could arguably be in a career-deciding fight this weekend in Miami. ‘Gamebred’ will take on fellow welterweight Gilbert Burns in the co-main event of UFC 287. Currently, on a three-fight losing streak, a win over #5 ranked Burns could slingshot Masvidal right back into title fight relevancy. However, a loss could be the final nail in the coffin for the #11 ranked welterweight’s career. With so much on the line, one would expect Masvidal to be laser-focused on the job at hand, but leading MMA coach Ray Longo does not believe that is the case.

The head coach of the Serra-Longo Fight Team recently appeared on the Anik & Florian podcast and discussed UFC 287. In his preview of the event, he gave his thoughts on the co-main event featuring Masvidal and Burns. The 61-year-old had more than one reason to pick Burns over Masvidal, although he stated he was a fan of the latter.

Ray Longo picks Gilbert Burns to beat Jorge Masvidal

During the conversation, Longo listed out the reasons why he’s giving Burns the edge in the fight against Jorge Masvidal. He said, “Jorge was always one of my favorite fighters. I mean, he just had a promotion, right? Didn’t he just promote kickbox? I see him on Rogan. It just doesn’t look like he’s.. it looks like he’s doing some PR.”

He continued, “He’s got a lot of things on his plate, you know… He’s in a different spot than he was when he was coming up. I don’t know if he’s as hungry as he was…”

He further added, “I think Burns is going to take this because… It just doesn’t look like he’s dialed in. I mean, that was a big promotion he put on… That’s a lot of responsibility,” said Longo. “It’s still taxing on your brain when you should be focused on just fighting… He’s got the court case with Colby, right?…”

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He concluded saying, “You can’t have your brain in 15 different places so… not for a technical reason, but for that reason I’m going to pick Burns on that fight.”

To Longo’s point, Masvidal has had his hands full with his ‘Gamebred’ promotion. His legal troubles have kept him out of action since UFC 272 as well.

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Do you think ‘Gamebred’ will shake the cobwebs off and get the win on April 8? Or will Longo’s pick become true? Let us know in the comments.