"It got to a point where everyone stopped to watch us” - Gilbert Burns recalls heated training session with BJJ star Nicky Rodriguez
Gilbert Burns is one of the most talented Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) practitioners in the UFC, holding multiple BJJ world titles as well as nine submission wins in his MMA career.
During a recent appearance on the JAXXON PODCAST, hosted by former UFC champion Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, Burns recounted a story of his training session with heavyweight BJJ star Nicky Rodriguez.
'Nicky Rod' is a member of B-Team Jiu-Jitsu, headed by Alexander Volkanovski's grappling coach, Craig Jones. Rodriguez burst onto the BJJ scene after securing a silver medal at the 2019 ADCC World Championship when he was still only a blue belt.
Burns shared a story about his heated roll with Rodriguez at the famous Renzo Gracie BJJ 'blue basement' in New York and said:
"When I was training with Nicky, they said, 'Now it's gonna be back-specific [drills].' The guy starts in turtle [position]. So I start on bottom. That freaking guy gives me a cross face, he almost rolled my neck. I tapped, and I was so mad. And then I said, 'Okay, it's gonna be my turn.' And then when it's his turn, I jumped on his neck with everything!"
He continued:
"I got his neck, and then he tapped. And then the training got even crazier because both egos were there. So I was going [hard], he was going [hard]. [We get told to change partner] 'No let's go again.' We kept going. It got to a point where everyone stopped to watch us training. We scrambled like crazy."
Listen to Gilbert Burns' comments below (1:14:20):
Gilbert Burns reveals Sean Strickland warned him about possible brawl with Dricus du Plessis upon his arrival
Several weeks ago, Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis stole the show at UFC 296 with their scuffle in the crowd.
Ahead of the pay-per-view card, the middleweights attended the promotion's 2024 Seasonal Press Conference to help promote their title clash at UFC 297 in January, where Du Plessis triggered Strickland by mentioning his childhood trauma.
The pair were sat two rows apart at UFC 296 the following day, where they came to blows.
Gilbert Burns, who was sat next to Strickland in the crowd, shared the middleweight champion's reaction to seeing 'Stillknocks' when he entered the arena.
During his JAXXON PODCAST appearance, Burns said:
"[Sean] said, 'This freaking guy is right there.' And I said, 'And what?' [Sean said] 'I might do something with this guy.' That was before the fight... then he said, 'But your family is here. If I do something, I will give you the heads up.'" [13:10-14:15 in aforementioned video]