Gilbert Burns is holding onto his spot in the contenders’ line.
Currently the No. 3 welterweight in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings, Burns kept himself on track for another shot at UFC gold with a unanimous decision win over No. 5-ranked Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in the UFC 264 co-main event Saturday in Las Vegas.
It was a bounce-back performance for Burns, who lost to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman in February. Following the win, Burns called out a number of notable names in his division, including Jorge Masvidal, Nate Diaz, and Leon Edwards.
Burns elaborated on the callouts at the post-fight presser, adding that his preference would be to face Masvidal if the money is right.
“I just took the ‘NMF’ (Nicest Mother F*cker) belt, I can take the ‘BMF’ (Baddest Mother F*cker) belt,” Burns said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “If Leon wants, he can get it; if Nate wants, he can get it. I know I just got a title shot, I can’t ask for another title shot, I don’t believe they’re gonna give it to me, so I want to keep working. I want to keep staying disciplined, keep getting better. I need to find that balance to stay disciplined but at the same time get a finish. Just gonna keep working. Give me any one of these guys.
“The only thing is I like the Masvidal fight a lot, but he just got two losses. He make a lot of money, so [they] gotta give me an extra check to fight him. I fight Masvidal next, but put me on a pay-per-view card and I’ll fight him, it’s gonna be a crazy one.”
Burns has now won seven of his past eight fights, while Masvidal is coming off of back-to-back title fight losses to Usman.
Both Burns and Masvidal are top contenders who will need to put in more work to earn another championship opportunity. In fact, had Thompson won, he likely would have moved past both men for the next title shot. However, Burns’ jiu-jitsu expertise was on full display Saturday and he was able to solve Thompson’s tricky karate style.
the source: www.mmafighting.com