Gilbert Burns slams Jorge Masvidal for refusing to fight him thrice, most recently in Brazil – "He just said no again"
Gilbert Burns has jibed at Jorge Masvidal by suggesting that 'Gamebred' turned down the opportunity to fight him on three separate occasions.
'Durinho' is coming off a unanimous decision loss against Khamzat Chimaev in a wild fight, whom he faced at UFC 273 in April. Meanwhile, Masvidal's most recent fight was a unanimous decision defeat against Colby Covington at UFC 272 in March.
In the aftermath of Burns' loss against Chimaev, the MMA community was rife with speculation that 'Durinho' could face Masvidal next. Earlier this year, Burns spoke to John Hyon Ko of The AllStar and revealed that he was offered a fight against 'Gamebred' for the UFC 281 (November 12, 2022) event.
Apparently, Masvidal underwent a wrist procedure and resultantly turned down the fight. Burns added, however, that the UFC let him know that Masvidal was willing to fight him in December 2022 or January 2023.
Over the past few months, the consensus has been that their fight could materialize either at UFC 282 on December 10, 2022, in Las Vegas, USA, or at UFC 283 on January 21, 2023, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Watch Burns' interview with John Hyon Ko below:
On that note, Gilbert Burns has now taken to Twitter and indicated that UFC's BMF (Bad Mo****fu**er) champion, Jorge Masvidal, has refused to fight him at UFC 283 in Brazil. Burns tweeted:
"Just letting everyone know that @ufc offered me @GamebredFighter 3x First time was for Nov 12. He said he needs more time, second time for Dec 10 he said he was going to fight me, and now he just said no again! so I guess the B from his BMF belt doesn’t stand for bad."
to fight me and now he just said no again! 🤷🏾♂️ so I guess the B from his BMF belt doesn’t stand for bad 🤦🏾♂️Just letting everyone know that @ufc offered me @GamebredFighter 3x First time was for Nov 12. He said he needs more time, second time for Dec 10 he said he was going to 🇧🇷 to fight me and now he just said no again! 🤷🏾♂️ so I guess the B from his BMF belt doesn’t stand for bad 🤦🏾♂️
UFC president Dana White on a potential Jorge Masvidal vs. Gilbert Burns fight
Back in August this year, UFC head honcho Dana White was asked about a possible matchup between welterweight stars Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns. White appeared to be in favor of booking the fight. During a press conference after an edition of Dana White's Contender Series, the UFC president stated:
“Yeah, I like it! You like it? [Journalist: I love this] Yeah, me too, then I’ll do it.”
Watch White's assessment below:
"I'll do it": Dana White plans to book @GilbertDurinho vs. @GamebredFighter. 😅
#DWCS | Full interview: bit.ly/3pDsKkv https://t.co/NtWYNW0oKN
Furthermore, back in May, Jorge Masvidal responded to a call-out from Gilbert Burns on Twitter and expressed interest in fighting him. That said, Masvidal's arch-rival Leon Edwards captured the UFC welterweight title by beating Kamaru Usman in August. 'Gamebred' has relentlessly lobbied for a title matchup against Edwards ever since.
#UFC278 Masvidal wants another shot at the new welterweight champ 👀 #UFC278
(via @GamebredFighter) https://t.co/CdUKLsa06x
As of this time, neither Burns nor Masvidal's next opponents or comeback dates have been officially announced. Whether or not the much-discussed Masvidal-Burns matchup comes to fruition remains to be seen.