Gilbert Burns breaks down upcoming opponent Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson's gameplan
Gilbert Burns has given his thoughts on how he thinks Stephen Thompson will approach their fight at UFC 264.
On July 10 at T-Mobile Arena, mixed martial arts fans from around the globe will stop and watch as Conor McGregor battles Dustin Poirier in their highly anticipated trilogy fight.
Prior to that, however, Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson will square off in a huge welterweight showdown in the co-main event of the evening.
Gilbert Burns has his eyes on the prize
Burns is coming off the back of a loss to Kamaru Usman in his UFC welterweight title shot, whereas 'Wonderboy' is hoping to extend his two-fight winning streak to three - earning himself another chance at becoming the 170-pound champion.
In anticipation of the bout, Gilbert Burns has given his thoughts on what he thinks Thompson will try to do in order to get his hand raised.
“He has great movements, great footwork, a good poker face - he does that very good! He tries to be friendly but I know he likes to frustrate people, make the guys miss. I brought in a couple of karate guys and one of them was Raymond Daniels, I learn so much from these guys.
“I never paid too much attention to my footwork, but for this camp I had to and I’m learning so much. It’s not even about Stephen Thompson so much, it’s about me growing as an athlete and getting better in every single aspect. Even with a couple of things that I never even thought would make a difference in my game is making a lot of difference. Facing these high level guys is challenging me more to get better and get in my comfort zone.”
Gilbert Burns and Stephen Thompson come across as two of the nicest guys in all of MMA - but when that cage closes behind them in Las Vegas, we can’t imagine that’s going to be the case.
They’re both incredibly skilled, technical individuals and when you mesh their two styles together, we could get some absolute magic, and there’s no better stage to do it on.