Gilbert Burns speaks about the dangerous young talent inside the welterweight division
Burns was recently on MMA Fighting’s Trocação Franca podcast and shared his thoughts about the prospects of the young Irishman Ian Garry. Currently rehabbing a shoulder injury that was sustained in his fight with Belal Muhammad, Burns is still confident that he’s got the fire to compete in what is quickly becoming the UFC’s most competitive division. “I train with all of those guys. I just trained with Kamaru (Usman), and did some positions with Ian Garry. When Shavkat and all of these guys come here, I train with all of them. I can fight at the highest level. When I start getting smashed and no longer enjoying training, when I’m too tired for this, then it’s time. But I’m hungry to train now, man. I’m like a maniac now for not being able to train because of my shoulder.”“I think so — in a few years, yes,” Burns said when asked if he sees Garry holding the UFC welterweight title one day (H/T MMA Fighting). “He’s a great kid, 25 years old. This kid is a badass. Before the fight, he said he would do all that — he pretty much called the entire fight beforehand, and pulled it off.”“…I’ve been knocked out, TKO’d, knocked down, but there were many fights where I wasn’t any (of those),” Gilbert Burns continued. I have good jiu-jitsu and I can use that too. I’m healthy, I’m fine, and I’m hungry to fight. I’ll only leave (MMA) if I lose three or four in a row and badly, getting knocked out. Then, I’m out. But I’m fighting. If I’m still doing it, I’ll keep doing it for years.Standing at 13-0 and currently riding a six-fight win streak in the UFC, Garry has been a dominant young force in the welterweight division. He was most recently in action at UFC 292 where he faced Neil Magny and made easy work of the versatile veteran. Now, he’s looking to face Stephen Thompson, and a win against that caliber of opponent would see him very close to if not ready for a title shot.