MORNING KOMBAT WITH LUKE THOMAS AND BRIAN CAMPBELL - Interview: Gilbert Burns Ready for Khamzat Chimaev After Learning Lessons Against Kamaru Usman

Episode Date: March 31, 2022

Brian Campbell and Luke Thomas sit down with Gilbert Burns ahead of his UFC 273 fight with Khamzat Chimaev. Why did he offer to fight Khamzat Chimaev? Who are the Russian wrestlers he brought in for this camp? What was it like fighting Kamaru Usman? What did he think of the Covington-Masvidal Miami fight? The guys discuss it all. Morning Kombat’ is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Bullhorn and wherever else you listen to podcasts.    For more Combat Sports coverage subscribe here: youtube.com/MorningKombat   Follow our hosts on Twitter: @BCampbellCBS, @lthomasnews, @MorningKombat    For Morning Kombat gear visit:morning kombat.store   Follow our hosts on Instagram: @BrianCampbell, @lukethomasnews, @MorningKombat Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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it will take place UFC 273, Jacksonville, Florida. And it will involve Hamzat Shemya versus our next guest, Gilbert Doreno Burns. Luke Thomas, Brian Campbell, Morning Combat here to talk to none other than you, good sir. How are you doing? I'm doing great, thank you. We are here in Sanford MMA in sunny South Florida. Let's talk about this fight. Hamza Chamaev, we'll start there.

A lot of people wondering why you took it, because you seem to be much further along in your career, much higher up in the division. Granted, he's got a ton of hype from what's going on, but he's never really even faced anyone like you, much less beat you. Why'd you take it? That wasn't the first option.

We want to fight Kobe. That was the fight I was looking for. But then they made the rematch after the rematch, the fight with Jorge. And I knew it would be hard to get an opponent. And then when he beat Lee J. Leung, I knew the hype was going to get crazy and no one wants to fight him.

Then I like, I kind kind of i don't know no one was giving me a fight i wasn't getting a fight i was just like i attacked sally and say i want to fight this guy i think they're gonna offer to me so i'm already letting you know i want to fight these guys we've seen the dm we can confirm this we want to point this out we saw gilbert with the time stamp from the day and everything else right right after the last fight with Hamzat and Li Jiangling, he literally hits up his manager and goes, I want it. His manager goes, why? But you did it.

Here we are. Well, I'll answer it for you. You wanted it because you're a savage. And I say that as a compliment to where you are in your career at this point. Why do you think, though, the rest of the world doesn't want to face Hamzat Chemaev at this point, at this moment? A lot of guys want it. I think it's a little controversial

because you see the new Magny say he won it. I know they asked the fighter for Vicente Luka, he said he won it. Luka Rockhold said he won it. Uh, I don't know. For sure, a lot of guys don't want it, but he just... The way I see it, we both want to fight. For sure, he's a little bit behind,

but we kind of asking to get an opponent. No one shows up. It was just like, I'm putting my hands up, the guy's putting his hands up over there. Just like, I fight you, let's do it. What is he... Give me the scouting report. Imagine I hadn't seen him fight and you could tell me all about him.

How do you evaluate him as a fighter and as an opponent? I think he's a very good fighter. I think, uh, he's, he's, he's wrestling. I think he's, he's, he's, he's best strength for sure. He got, he got power in his hands when the guy has one knockout. Yeah. But when he has more than one with the one punch for sure, the guy has, has power in his hands and he can grapple i don't

think he's the high level he's grappling but good control good ground and pound i think i and and he has that thing that i used that i had before whenever you never lost and you feel a little bit untouchable invincibility invincible you feel like i like that i like that confidence that he has and uh i've been there i was like that and then i lost to a guy that was very experienced very calm rashid magomedov in brazil he just put me in a place that i was never i never felt you know like things wasn't working and i think he can brought the same to this guy. Why would you say his grapple, he's overall very, very good, but his grappling isn't necessarily there. But what we've seen, granted, you're the expert, but what we've seen is he's been running over dudes. So what would you say is give me a sense of his ground game?

What's good about it? What maybe do you think is some other area? I think he's very long and he used that very, very good. He combined that the wrestling, the takedowns with the advancing position. He does a good job. His arms are very long. He does a good job with the darts and anaconda. He gets those chokes very good. A good control on the top.

He gets the back very good. He has a good, very easy, takes the back, you know, controlling with the long legs. We're going to test him on bottom. We're going to test a little bit more defense. We're going to test getting up a couple times. A lot of things that I want to see if he does have the answer, you know, like on the grappling aspect, getting up, getting out of balance, getting, you know, attacks from different angles, from neck, arm bars, triangle, leg locks, sweeps, get-ups. I want to, especially when you face a guy that's able to mix all of that.

It's not just a sweep. It's a sweep. It's not working. It's getting underneath. If it's not working, then we go into a leg. If it's not working, we push it. We get up. Like, I want to see when the guy combines all that, how he's going to answer.

We've seen in the news cycle, you say, okay, you respect what Chumayev brings here, but you think you can take advantage of it. But true or false, you're bringing in some super top secret Russian grapplers, and you're not disclosing the names. They might be here, they might be hiding behind the pads over there. That was at their request, correct? They requested to remain anonymous. So what is not in your game, completely, that you're hoping this add to this training camp does to prepare you to defeat Chimaev?

A couple things that they put on my game, especially the cage control. And a lot of things too. The way I see it is you need to get a long guy, a wrestler. Not a wrestler, not an a wrestler, not American wrestler, but a Russian wrestler with a Russian system, like trying to take me down, hold onto my legs, control, long. So the way I see, I need to be in that position

a couple times to get comfortable, even if it's a bad position, but I need to feel that. Many times in my training camp and then start getting the answers. Sometimes, first time I didn't get the answer, like, man, I feel very uncomfortable. And then I was kind of getting better into that, seeing, visualizing, seeing the position, studying. And that's what I need for these guys. Like, especially nowadays, you know, I spar many times.

I did, I grapple many times. So now what I want to see when I do have a fight coming up, I want to get as close as I can to what I'm facing. If I'm facing freaking Neil Magny, I'm going to bring a tall. If we don't have him here, Samful, I'm going to bring a tall guy, lanky, moving good, good boxing, good takedowns. If I'm fighting Sean Brady, I want to bring a small guy, lanky, moving good, good boxing, good takedowns. If I'm fighting Sean Brady, I want to bring a small guy, very strong,

like trying to control me. A lot of, yeah, like that way. I think nowadays that I have a lot of experience to go to a camp, get very confident going through, I need to bring a guy to do very similar to things that I'm facing. Russian mystery, man. I'm wondering if it's habib

and fatal it's definitely not habib and fedor uh but the question i have is this i know you can't tell us everything but try to give us just a sense of things what do the russians do in terms of how they wrestle that is so different from the americans okay i think uh they mastering the the cage control more than americans you know and when when I see Russians and diamonds, I think, man, those guys are very strong and do a lot of energy. They're not. They're not physically super strong. No, they're very technical in the cage.

They don't waste a lot of energy. They're very smart and they have a little sequence. They go to a single, single's not working, go back to the body, go back to single. Like, it's just making gas a lot more and then they get good hips, grips good head position. It's This they I like to say they have a system that that they've been doing for a long time and it's not a secret But they're doing that very good

and whenever they go to the floor they position in very good to get a ground and pound and One of the things that we have when you take the guy down as a grappler, as a wrestler, sometimes you just want to hold control first, but then apply damage. But they do a very good thing controlling the hips, controlling the legs. Then you don't have legs, you don't have your hips. Those are your big muscles right here. Whenever they control them, it's easy to do a ground and pound. I think they developed that system so good.

And we didn't pay attention too much. I mean, we did, but a couple Russians are not that good, but we got a couple Russians like Khabib, a couple Dagestani, like Islam Makachev, and a couple other guys, they do very good, but it's very simple, they do. For me, the difference was the amount of energy. They don't spend a lot of energy, they're very smart. Well, he's 35, but he's a young 35. I can't believe it.

Gonna be 36 in July, I'm an old 43. And he's got two kids. I can't even eat out of a gas station anymore. What are the stakes though? Because of the buzz, okay, it's a gamble to fight this version of Chermayev, no one really knows how good, but it's clear you're being opportunistic. You wanna take advantage of that buzz.

Do you think a win over Chermayev gets you directly back in the title picture? Maybe. I don't think. It all depends on the performance, to be very honest with you. I would like to say yes, but maybe. Has the UFC said anything to you about it? I heard Dana saying it makes

sense the winner going to, but that opinion can change every time. I wonder if he defeats you, he may be on the way to a title shot. Maybe, but once again, I think everything depends on the performance. If any one of us go there and do a spectacular performance, for sure title shot. But if it goes different than everyone expecting me expecting me going hard he's going crazy and then one guy getting the finish but it might not go that way you know it might get a little

and split decision win i don't think either one going to this is a very level-headed fighter yeah most of the time we talk to fighters and you get you understand like they're it's only positive. It's only yes, it's only affirmative thinking. You're kind of what you it's interesting. At 35, you seem to understand how to balance all of these competing difficulties and interests. Right. He knows the business now. You do. Do you feel that way? Like you're a senior in this sort of game, so to speak? No, no, no. I don't mean it that way. I don't mean old.

What I mean to say is you have graduated past other newer folks. Yeah, I've been there a couple of times and I see things. A title shot can never be promised. Like you got to earn. So me going there against these guys, like you said, it's a little gamble. But I like the risk and I like the rewards. Beating these guys, a lot of eyes on me. A lot of people saying beat these guys and get a finish.

Title shot, if you're not, maybe Colby on the way. That's the way you see it. But- Do you see Colby and Jorge fighting in a steak restaurant or something? Right down the road. What's your take on that? Because you know where Jorge's from.

You know when he says, when I see you and you talked about my children, it's on. I mean, Colby has like, he's been poking the bear for all this time. It was due, right, in a way. I mean, Colby has like, he's been poking the bear for all this time. It was due, right, in a way. I think, yeah, some crazy might happen to these guys. A lot of talking, a lot of, I mean, I kind of got caught up a little bit on that, like trying to talk so much about me.

I'm a fighter. I like to fight. I love to fight. And sometimes I was kind of passing my even values a little bit to get a fight remember I talk a lot of crap about Leon Edwards that why this guy but I passed my own values to put out a good show each week I know I know but it's not me but I respect if you want to say whatever you want to say say but it might get dangerous you know at some point but I don't want to pass my values to just to get a fight to get more money I respect that I don't want to pass my values to just to get a fight to get more money. I respect that.

I don't want to do it. You're top ranked for a reason. Off that title loss to Kamaru Usman, you come back against Wonderboy Thompson and you, you put on a clinic. I mean, that was a stark reminder of, of where you still are. How much does the loss to the champ though still aid at you considering you had him hurt, you had him on the ropes in the first round. How much does that still just grind the gears

every morning, every night? Especially since you started off so hot in that fight. To be honest, I'm over that already. It was a great experience. To be honest, it was a very good experience. It was a lot of good, a lot of bad, but it was my journey, you was a lot of good a lot of bad but it was my journey no I just gotta accept that and then I rewatched that fight I

over I don't know over a hundred times for sure okay what happened then what happened in your eyes yeah walk us through in your mind what went right what went wrong I was very emotional going to the fight to be honest in the first thing that was the that was the first mistake Like you wanted to get a Camaro or you were like you didn't know how you were gonna feel about it I didn't know how I was I was going to feel it How I was I was how was it I was going to feel about it But he said something on the on the pre fight that got to my head a little bit Then I was so mad that he got to my head. Was it you tell yeah, he was

He said something like, I think Brett Okamoto asking, hey, so you guys trained together so many times, so the coach saw that training, the training partner saw that training. They know who's going to win, and then he said, yeah, for sure they know who's going to win. And then I rose there. I was like, oh, you sure they know who's gonna win. And then I like, and then I was like,

oh, you'll see who's gonna win then. And that, on the beginning, that put a fire on me that I thought was good, but wasn't good. That motivation come from the anger, come from the other place. A lot of people say anger is good. Yeah, it's good whenever you control it, but whenever the fire started, want to get to him,

you know, and then I did. But whenever I got and I landed that hand, most of the times I'm very comfortable throwing, seeing you going down, thinking next one, maybe one step back and keep that combination. Whenever I throw that right-handed, I saw the other hand was just, I saw was a lot of angry on it.

And I felt that, oh shit, I'm like, I gotta calm down. But then I was, the anger just kind of took over a little bit and then I was very emotional. But I realized, oh, I need to get, I'm out of control. I kind of felt that. And that was very hard to, it's kind of like a train going out of the trail. It was very hard for me to go back to the trail.

Especially, I have a couple guys on my corner that helped me to get back to my trail. That's Daniel, Kami Barzini, and Henry. Kami and Henry wasn't there because they trained Kamaru. So as respect, he wasn't there. So it was just Daniel to try to pull me back. It was very hard to pull me back. When I was out of that trail, it was just Daniel to try to pull me back and it was very hard to pull me back and when I was out of that tree it was very hard to come back and then Kamaru was very smart and he kind of take advantage on that and I think he did a good job but it was was just me mentally

not in the moment like not kind of clear mind on the moment. You know, in the story of your mind, cause I like where you say, I think I needed that loss. Like that's part of your story. And to hear the lessons that you learned, you executed those lessons against Wonderboy. We saw where you're at. Does the story end in your mind going through Camaro again? Is that important to you?

Not really. I have two goals in the UFC and one I'm already making that the first goal is to fight the best guys in the world. It's not just beat this guy get an easy fight. I don't want that. That's number one goal is to fight the best guys. Whenever I go out I want to see my resume and I'm like oh shh, I fought everybody. Like RDA. Yeah, like RDA. Just like RDA and then I'm like, oh, shh, that's for everybody. Like RDA. Yeah, like RDA. Just like RDA. And then I'm like, oh, man, that guy's for everybody.

Like Vanderlei Seale, when you look at Pride, that guy's for everybody. And I want to become a champion. Those are my clear two goals in the UFC. It doesn't have to be nothing against – I don't have nothing against Kamaru. He was just here today. He helped me out a couple – Did he really? Yeah, he helped me out. I'm so glad to hear that.

You guys are going to see in the video. He helped out a couple in a couple rounds and we have a good relationship and i have tremendous respect just just because you beat me on a good day i was in a good day for sure was a little angry but physically technically i was sharper bro i almost finished that guy remember i went out of the, my shin was big because of the head kick. My knee was sore because of the knee. I threw a knee on his face. Right hand, I threw a lot of things on that guy, and then he beat me even with all of that. So I have a lot of respect.

It's nothing personal. There's nothing against him. I want to become a champion. If he's holding the belt, yeah, we're going to do a real match. But I don't have that i don't gotta beat these guys well hopefully you were nice enough to say hey champ the canelo idea not a good idea bro okay did you tell him that's a bad idea ah no no that's a payday so it's a huge payday it's a huge how about how about connor saying he can beat camorra i was like well there's not a big payday

do you think connor gets that chance to this dana white privilege at 170 at 170. beat kimura i was like well there's another big payday i'm happy about tomorrow you know so do you think connor gets that chance to this dana white privilege at 170 at 170. not right now he gotta do a little work i think and a lot of people ask to me like what do you think about corner i still think he can do very good but he he gotta make a big change, you know? Like, you know what changed Majidal? Changed when he went to the freaking survival. It's kind of like a survival, right? But the Latino survivor. Whenever he went out, if Conor asked me, like, what do you think?

I would say, bro, just freaking go away. Go to a freaking, don't need to be a mountain but go to a freaking mountain get all your training out of freaking social media out of freaking whiskey go train go back to your roots you know gather your teammates get your team stay there for freaking five six months and I think he can come back you know but if you have a lot of yes man and I don't think he's going to come back. But if he does, if he really want that change and come back, I think he can do it. But he's going to eat the price to that, I believe.

Did the loss to Kamaru change your mentality? Indeed. It sounds like it also changed your approach to how camps should be structured. Is that a fair point as well? Like all of that stems from that one event? Yes, it changed a lot of things. I had to do a lot of mental change. First, I need to understand why he got on my head. You know, why did I feel offended

because he said he gonna beat me? Like, why should I feel offended on that? Because I wasn't believing myself or something. So I gotta dig very deep on that and understand why I feel uncomfortable with the guy saying he's going to beat me. He's a fighter. He's supposed to say that, right? He's supposed to say that.

Like, why I'm going to feel offended? Because he does, his opinion affect me like that? Like, it shouldn't affect. So then I dig deep on that and I got a couple answers. It wasn't easy, but I got a couple answers. And yeah, he changed a lot of things. The best answers are the hardest ones to take. All right, how about Hamzat Chermayev, who is a trash talker,

loves to try to use intimidation. Has he attempted at all? Is there text messages? Is he sliding in your DMs? How has that build gone for you so far? It is what it is, you know. I think I learned so much with that Kamaru Usman fight that it's going to be very hard to get a guy going through my head and change what I'm thinking.

Like this guy, what do you think he says is going to be easy? Whatever. If he says it's going to be easy, nice to him. If he thinks it's going to be hard, nice. To get those tough answers, did you talk to Henry? Did you talk to a sports psychologist? I have a sports psychologist there. It was hard. Like, it took me, to be honest, it wasn't quick. It was a process, you know. And then she knows me. I've been working with her after I lost to Michelle Perzeris back in 2000.

Long time ago, yeah. 17, I think, 18, Brazil. 17. I started working with her. She was already working with Vicente Luque. And then he approached, hey, you should try her. She's very good. And then I started working with her.

And then I like it. And then after that fight, after every fight that I do, we do evaluation tests. Win or lose. Win or lose. We do an evaluation test. And then we go, how was the training camp I was the she freaking 45 questions maybe more and then how was the training camp I was this I was preparation and then how was your mentality going and then we start finding things out and then whenever she

she knew already when she she found out it was very hard to say to me. It wasn't hard, but I was trying to get it, but I was open, but I wasn't seeing it yet. And then she was so smart, saying to me, read that thing here. Give me the good points. Give me what you understand. And then I was reading them. Oh, shit. And then I was getting a couple things and then it took me like freaking two months. Because you were in like what was the hard part about the transition was that you had to reevaluate how you looked at yourself? Something like that? Therapy is not easy, dude.

No, I've been in it. Trust me. It's not easy. And then it got to a point that I was overconfident going to the fight. I knew I was going to beat Kamaru Uzma. And then I didn't respect the thing that he knew me a lot. And that couple of my coaches wanted to be there, I was a little bit overconfident. I'm just like, I'm going to walk to him. I'm going to throw a lot of heat on him. He's going to get uncomfortable.

And he's going to do what? Shoot or whatever. He's going to take me down. And then the fight's gonna start. I'm gonna do a lot of offensive from the bottom, a lot of shit. That was going through my head and then I never thought a good right-handed jab was gonna stop me. And then I was very over it.

There was too much. There was invincible thing that I wasn't alert enough to, oh, that guy can hit me. I was just, and we, but the great thing was I was able to understand why I felt that way and when that start changing. And another thing too, whenever you go to a title fight, it's a lot of opportunity. And then another thing that has to be with that, too, I came from a very humble beginning.

I hate to be kind of put me as a victim, but I did come from that. And whenever I saw a lot of opportunity, I would just want to take every single one. I wanted to ask you about that. So you grew up in Rio under difficult circumstances in Brazil, yet your household produces two UFC fighters, you, your brother Herbert, and... The other brother is a decorated military officer.

Navy SEAL. What's your other brother's name? Fred. Fred. Fred's doing big stuff as well. What was it about your environment as a child and the challenges you went through that produced this thick skin, this toughness, I say it as a compliment a savage ability to go after dangerous opportunities

and achieve them? To be honest I don't believe that was the only way. It was tough. It wasn't miserable. It wasn't starving. It was tough. It wasn't miserable, it wasn't starving. It was tough, but I was happy at the same time. You know what I mean? Whenever you had something, the celebration was the best. I don't feel like I miss a lot. For sure I miss little things, but I was happy as a kid. I never understood, but whenever it got to a point, I remember whenever I started doing Jiu Jitsu,

I remember the first was the thing that happened that my dad saw an opportunity, he trade, get paid to me and my brother start training. But whenever we got back home, it's crazy because I remember my dad, crazy, I was freaking 11 years old. And I remember my dad crazy i was freaking 11 years old and i remember my dad saying like if you really want to train if you like it you you try to be the best you got to go hard otherwise

in three months no more scholarship i don't have money to pay so those little things that that got into you and then i know if i don't i'll work if i don't go hard if i don't give my best the drive in you but but not to jump over that is it true that your father repaired cars for a living and he had an opportunity to repair the car of a jiu-jitsu instructor and traded training for his sons? That's a great dad, man. How about pops right there? That's a great move.

Great guy. Like a lot of ups and downs from me through to the growing up that was a good point that changed me and my brother's life with three black belts with

all three of you I know the younger brother is and the and the the oldest one is he's the one that started like he kind of paved the way

for me and my brothers even that he took a different path but we that gene that took us called oriented jujitsu is still there very big on niteroi in my city and they were affiliated with novel neon so what happened was tuesdays and thursdays we started going to novel neon is that when jose aldo was

there jose aldo just came right a little bit after so i saw Jose Aldo coming but my older brother was his foreign partner from Shaolin, Victor Shaolin Ribeiro when Shaolin was fighting and I was looking all that and then I saw my brother's a blue belt I was maybe yellow belt, orange belt and my brother was going like like slapping hands takedowns with Shaolin, Shaolin beating the crap out of my brother but he loved it that my brother would keep going. Sometimes he just, I remember back then we had nothing, and then he gave my brother a Hunter. Remember those Hunter shorts?

He gave my brother Hunter shorts, and then my brother was so happy, and then we're going every Tuesday, Thursday. And then I saw T-Bow was sleeping in the gym, and then after a little bit came Jose Aldo, all these guys. So me seeing these guys is very young, dude. And another thing too, like I had my daddy for sure. And my brother kind of paved the way, kind of set an example.

But I saw Vitor Shaolin training so hard. And then I was there with a freaking orange belt. Whenever they were done training they were done training he said now you can come and train with me And then he was the one that he didn't even know or maybe he knew but he was the one that pushed my style a Little bit because he said Charlie because whenever he was done He was also everybody was then that guys keep training he keep training and then he was okay now He can come and train with me. But if you stop, I'm never gonna train with you again. So he developed me going forward,

try chasing from going. So you were driven. You were driven by the idea that this could be the ticket out. And if I don't give everything I have, I'm gonna lose it. Did you know it was a ticket out or did you just like it? Both. I knew if I didn't train hard with Shaolin,

I would never try to meet again. I know if I wasn't working, I would lose. So it was kind of like a fear with a drive on the same time, you know? Well, you became a respected UFC lightweight fighter and one of the most decorated grapplers in the world. But that transition that happened to you upon moving up to welterweight,

we've talked about a lot, especially ahead of your title shot, about what that did. Physically not having to cut that weight has to be a big deal. Luke said first thing we walked in, I have no idea how you made 155 back in the day. This is shocking, shocking.

What else though, about that change in your career when you went on that win streak? What else changed in your life that fueled that? Changed a lot of things. I think I was, I was punishing my body so much to get to a, to perform, you know, I was just killing my body. I remember I was running every day

whenever I got a call that I'm fighting. And then whenever it passed, like last three weeks, it was every other day running just to make the weight and training. How much were you eating a day at that time? Not much, bro. Like a thousand calories maybe? Yeah, maybe a little bit more than that and training. How much were you eating a day at that time? Not much, bro. Like a thousand calories maybe? Yeah, maybe a little bit more than that, but...

Not much? Not much at all, but the stress was too much. A lot of things was too much. I couldn't get a fight. I remember UFC offered me short notice. Oh, you want to fight these guys in three weeks, four weeks? And it was a good fight. And then like, no, I can't.

Just because you couldn't make the weight. I'm not going to make the weight. And then, and then my last fight at 155 was here in Florida. And I had my nutritionist, Brazilian guy, freaking high level, Marcelo Ferro. He's very under the lights. He has Instagram, but don't use it as much. But he works on the labs.

He does a lot of things. He worked with a lot of good guys in Brazil back in the days. And he saw my weight cut. And then when he saw it, he was just like, you cannot do that anymore. He said, you know what keeps you alive is your cells. And you're killing a lot of your cells with that. And I look in your eyes and I remember my last weight cut here in Florida against Mike Davis, when Jaco Redford, Jack Hermerson. You won that contest. I won that fight but wow. I remember I got I was 180 on the

fight weight. For a 155 fight? For a 155 and then I cut I can I can swear a lot. I still I do believe I can make 155. I cannot fight. I cannot perform, but go to the scale and make it. I can make 155. I'm not going to be able to fight. I have no team. But mentally, going to the weight cut, I can make it. So I knew I was going to make it. It was brutal, it was hard, a lot of hard baffs and things.

And when he saw me, he was just like, you're you're not gonna do that anymore that's your last fight and my wife agreed with him and all the coaches and then i win that fight and then i was just like yeah i'll call ali call the ufc say i'm gonna fight at 170 and then whenever i make that decision talk to my coach everybody here is about time no not one coach say you're crazy every single one finally okay now okay now we talk everybody and after that decision whenever i called the ufc and they said that my next fight is going to be a welterweight i want to change it wasn't like and i back training then i can kind of relax a little bit my week my, always when I make 55, my weight was blowing up. Like after I just got very big, like 200, 198. Whenever I decided that I didn't blow up,

I wasn't craving nothing. I was at 190. After that, I was back in training and I just got a call. Hey, you wanna fight these Russian dude? He's even here, he's training here now. Alexey Kunchenko. Yeah, you want to fight this Russian dude? He's even here. He's training here now. Alexei Kunchenko. Yeah.

You won that one as well. Want to fight that Russian dude? 20 and 0 in two weeks. And I said, two weeks? I can make 170. And I remember I was driving to Orlando. My kid had Orlando open to compete in jiu-jitsu. I was driving.

And then on the way, we stop. And we stop. You know where we stop? Wendy's? Hooters. Five Guys. Five Guys. We stopped at Five Guys. What's a Gilbert Burns Five Guys burger?

Walk us through. Whoo. Double cheeseburger, two patties and... Oh, my liver. I like the vegetables, but I put everything in like tomato. I put... And I was eating that burger and the freaking Ali FaceTime me. And then I was just like, what's up, bro?

You want to fight these dude, I say. What do you think? I don't know him. No, I think he's more stand up. Take a look. And then I took a look and I remember literally was eating that burger, fries, and then I call Harry. I like that fight.

What do you think? Two weeks. You to buy. Vicente's fighting there already, Mike Perry. Let's go. Let me take a look. Yeah yeah and then i talked to call my coach and we decided to take that fight and we took it all right it may have taken until the damian maya knockout win or the you know woodley win for people to go oh crap this guy's legitimate welterweight title contender what was the fight for you that it was like proof of concept that you at welterweight

could potentially do some damage here at the rankings two fights i don't think it was even the damien meyer thing was the first fight because in two weeks i beat the guy that was 20 and 0 undefeated freaking russian tough tough dude in the gunnar n fight. Because it was the same thing. After one month, I got a call again. Two weeks notice now in Denmark. You want to see? Yeah, for sure I want it. It wasn't that bad last one. Now I'm in a better shape.

I can do it. And after that Gunnar Nelson, everything started changing. I remember I went to Vegas, to the Quintet. I grappled there. Kicked ass too, yeah. Went Kamara for Kobe the first time, and then I was talking to Sean. I was annoying Sean. I was texting.

He was mad that he gave me his phone. Like, Sean Shelby, give me that title shot. I want to see matchmaker Sean Shelby. I want to notify. I want to notify. Hey, I'm ready. Someone pulled out. I was just.

And then we were there at the quintet. I said, bro, give me another fight and then he said no I'm gonna give you a rank opponent next because after I beat guna guna was just out of the fight they pulled me 15 14. I became ranked and they said I'm gonna give a rank it upon it and then he was going through the ranking a couple guys was kind of busy couple guys saying no and then he said you want to fight Damian Maia? I said, for sure, I want to fight Damian Maia. A lot of respect to me, but for sure I want to fight Damian Maia. I think we're going to get that fight done.

And then took that November, he said that the fight was just in March. It took a little while to get the fight done, but the fight got done. And then the knockout was a big thing, and then the wood of the fight. But I think the Gunnar Nelson fight was the story. Then you couldn't be denied. Luke, I don't, you know, I have to bring this up because when we walked into this beautiful facility that you did say, because you're the protector here of all things Bushido and good practice. Yeah, I just try not to be a jerk. You said BC, you know, you're gonna have to take your shoes off. And Luke, you know,

I live a certain style code that I didn't wear socks. Yes, it's called toe fungus. And at first I was a little bit embarrassed. But here's the thing about guys like Doreenio and myself. You're nothing alike. He wears that cauliflower ear like a badge on his sleeve because it tells the journey of how he got here. He didn't get cauliflower ear from not showering. My disgusting toes, which were of a lifetime of climbing, of persevering.

When you look at my toes, what do you think, Gilbert? Besides nausea. I figure she get it done. She go to a manicure and get it done soon. Gilbert, let me ask you two questions for me. And we could probably call it here. But first thing I want to know is you say what the stakes are here. You stop a guy like Tremayev, you stop the hype train, but there might be more to it. The odds came out and I know you're going

to say you don't care, which is fine. I'm not asking you to care. But what I would say is they have him at a minus 400, which to me seems outrageous. Now, obviously, he's running a ton of hype, and the bettors, or the oddsmakers, they put the line in a certain way so they can get money. Nevertheless, as much as we might respect you, and all the hardcores respect you infinitely, do you feel like a win like this might reassert you, not merely as a title contender, but as like, I don't know, outside of what the two guys at the top have done, Colby and Kamaru, do you feel like this is a chance to reassert yourself as a dominant force after the Thompson win, after the loss to Kamaru, like sort of really putting your stamp on the division again?

Yeah, I do think it makes a big statement, you know, especially stopping this guy, not just beating, but just the best scenario that i see is that guy taking me down and then i'm getting up and then i'll grapple here then he take me down again i'll grapple here and then eventually getting the finish he's not gonna just be that lucky punch that luck thing he's gonna be like oh he all wrestled the guy wrestle him he defended he got back up he did these and then he got a finish. And then I think that made that type of statement. Like, and like you said, I don't mind if people make those odds. Like, it doesn't change.

It's crazy. Look, if he was the favorite, I'd be okay with it, whatever. They are what they are. But minus 400 is just disrespectful. Yeah, I get it. I get it because Dan Hooker fought. They just put myself like losing for Dan Hooker a couple years ago. They put my fight with Kamaru. So they think this and that. They see the weakness. They see the little things. They see a loss. And these guys, they just see like, wow, Darren Teal, these guys, these.

You know, like all the hype and Dana in Dana White oh this guy is a murderer so yeah I get the odds but you don't change you know I'm I'm like I got those questions if you fight Kobe if you thought I'm gonna throw with the same intensity I'm gonna try to knock someone out even if it's freaking Damien Meyer nice guy Gunnar Nelson I'm gonna try to get a finish he that type of of odds or I'm not looking for the respect I'm looking for forgetting the finish you know in like again I got back to my goals I want to fight the best guys I want to beat the best guys and I want to become the best guys. And I want to become a champion. It doesn't, those little things that I don't let distract me as much. You know, it just, it is what it is.

We're going to find out. All right, what if UFC matchmakers called you up and said, let's say you beat Shumayev. So you get past that hurdle. They say, we can either give you another title shot, or we can give you Conor McGregor and make you a household name and give you your biggest payday. I'm going to assume by a lot.

At this point in your career, which one do you take? I don't know. I'm not going to say no for those, you know, for big payday, but to be honest with you, not lying to yourself, I want to become a champion more than I want that payday. I want to become a champion like let let not even comparing but let's go to a freaking Dustin Poirier position right now I'll be freaking mad if instead of fight for the title win that title I fuck Conor make all that money I was still missing something you know like my my goal is to become a champion for sure I want to pay they as well but that's a shadow that that's that's not

the goal if i want to be i want to make like a big money i'll be on freaking stock marketing i would do something different but my goal right now is fight the best guys in the world and i and i i believe shemya is one of these best guys in the world and I want to become a real one Luke Remember that song by Paula Cole where of all the Cowboys gone there right here, right right fucking here. All right, dude I know you're not living for this I know this is not why you compete you compete for yourself and your family and all the other reasons But on Sunday morning after the fight, what do you want the MMA community to say about you? That's the thing I don't.

You don't care? I don't care. As long as you get your hand raised, that's really it. That's it, that's it. And then they can say whatever they want, a couple guys. And it's so much hate out there, you know? It's so much, for sure it's a lot of love too, but it's so much hate, it's so much fake,

it's so much that I don't expect nothing you can say whatever you want like the what like if I will change your question like what do I want my wife to say my kids to say my coach to say my friends to say yes I wanted to be man that was a good performance. It don't matter if I lose, if I won't. But man, you freaking show up and you did your best. And that's the ultimate thing for me, is not the media, is not Brazil. For sure, I love my country. For sure, I see what the media says, but this is not the most important thing.

The most important thing is my coach, my family, my family, my teammates, the guys that saw all the work that I put in and I show up in those guys be, man, I'm very proud of you. That, boom, that's it. I'm inspired. Yeah, me too, actually. I'm actually surprised.

I knew you were smart and level-headed, but this is an interesting. All right, last one for me. Is your family going to the fight? Yes, for sure. Have they been to fights before? For sure, a couple of times. The little ones too?

Yeah, the little ones. They know all the fighters. They have the cards. They love Adesanya. They love Francis Ngannou. Do they ever love any of your opponents? They what? Do they ever love any of your opponents?

They like Kamar. Kamar was here. My kids were here today. So they like Kamar. The little one got mad at Kamar. He said, I'm going to kick his balls when he saw him. And then like two months after he saw Kamaru and the big one said, go Kamaru's dad,

you say you're gonna kick his balls? Said no, I'm not gonna kick him. I was just mad at him because he beat daddy, but I like him, he's a nice guy. I like Samira too, Samira's Kamaru's daughter. But they were there when I fought Dan Hooker. They know who Dan Hooker is. They said, that guy beat you.

Daddy, he throw a knee on you. I had a big cut right here because of Dan Hooker. Remember, he cut you after the fight, and then you got stitches. And I said, yeah, I remember that stitch hurt. But it's part of my journey. Daddy learned so much. You know that, right? you know that right yeah we know

you got better after that it didn't that they so they know they know Dan Hooker they know other sign they they've they be big fan of other sign uh uh Francis in Ghana Max Holloway they follow everybody so they've been a couple of my fights they they were there when they fought Stephen Thompson and now they growing up, nine and seven, they want to go every single fight. And then I have my guy that does my suit right here, Michael Russell. He's gonna make it same suit for the kids too.

So it's gonna be nice. It's gonna be looking good. Gilbert, I was thinking though that we'll just, we'll call it cauliflower toe. Because what it means is I've kicked a lot of ass. Can you believe I've tied my professional fortunes to this mongoloid? It's unbelievable. Gilbert Burns, going after that prize.

Yes, he is. Daring to be great. Hamzat Shumayev in the way. UFC 273, Jacksonville, Florida. We're going to find out some key, important answers to some big questions as your story continues. Best of luck to you, brother. Thank you, guys. Appreciate you.