Watch: Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman meet face to face after UFC 258 showdown
Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman were cordial with each other when they recently met at Sanford MMA, where Usman used to train previously. Burns and Usman were teammates and great friends before their recent welterweight title clash at UFC 258.
In a video put up on Twitter by ESPN, Burns can be seen narrating the details of his recent meeting with Kamaru Usman after fighting him in February. Burns revealed that Usman was in South Florida to visit his daughter and dropped by the gym to see a friend of his who he'll soon be cornering at an MMA event in Dubai.
Burns said that there's no dearth of mutual respect between him and Usman, revealing that they exchanged pleasantries with each other. The fact that Burns addresses Kamaru Usman as the champ in the video tells us about the kind of respect he has for The Nigerian Nightmare.
However, he was also quick to reiterate that he believes he will once again meet Usman inside the Octagon down the line. There's no doubting the fact that Burns still has his eyes on the prize, irrespective of who owns it currently.
"What's up guys? Gilbert Burns right here. last week, March 2, we gbot a special visit right here in Sanford MMA. The champion, Kamaru usman, you know. My former teammate and my last opponent. So he came here, you know, we got a friend of ours fighting in Abu Dhabi and he's very close with Kamaru so Kamaru's going to be cornering him. He came to gym, I believe he is in South Florida because he's got his daughter living right here. He just came to the gym and it was good and respectful. We shook each other's hands and exchanged a couple of words. We're all good right now but we re going to see each other again, soon, in the octagon."
Are Gilbert Burns and Kamaru Usman going to run it back anytime soon?
Gilbert Burns will have to work his way to another title shot if he wants to avenge the loss to Usman.
He is targeting a fight against former interim champion Colby Covington and it will be interesting to see how that matchup plays out if it comes to fruition. It makes sense to pit them against one another to determine the next title contender.
Kamaru Usman is likely to defend his title against Jorge Masvidal in a rematch of their slightly lukewarm matchup at UFC 251.