Watch: UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns involved in slap fight with Ange Loosa in the locker room
UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns has taken to his official social media account to put forth a tweet featuring him engaging in some lighthearted sparring with fellow MMA fighter Ange Loosa.
Ange Loosa, a welterweight MMA fighter from Switzerland, engaged in a slap fight with Gilbert Burns in the locker room after their training session. Burns tweeted a video of their slap fight alongside a caption that read as follows:
“That’s what happens when my fight is taking too long and I can’t compete in bjj we gotta compete in slap after training with my guy @LoosaAnge @MmaSanford @henrihooft @CoachGJones @IHPfit @AliAbdelaziz00”
Gilbert Burns has had not one but two fight bookings canceled in 2020
Following his one-sided unanimous decision win over former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in May, Gilbert Burns was awarded a shot at the UFC welterweight title held by Kamaru Usman.
The Usman vs Burns matchup was scheduled to take place at UFC 251 in July, but just days before the fight could come to fruition, Burns tested positive for COVID-19.
Resultantly, Burns was coerced to withdraw from the UFC 251 matchup and was replaced by Jorge Masvidal who faced Usman for the UFC welterweight title.
Masvidal took the fight on less than a week’s notice and ended up losing via unanimous decision to Usman in the headlining bout of UFC 251.
Following this, the UFC rebooked the Usman vs Burns UFC welterweight title matchup for UFC 256 set to take place on December 12, 2020.
Nevertheless, Usman pulled out of the UFC 256 fight due to injury issues. With his fight against Usman canceled for the second time in the year, Gilbert Burns has been unable to return to action inside the octagon.
Gilbert Burns is primed to fight again at the earliest
Gilbert Burns has consistently expressed his desire to return to active MMA competition at the earliest. The 34-year-old Brazilian MMA stalwart has faced a long list of incredibly fierce opponents on his way to the top of the UFC welterweight division.
Burns moved from lightweight to welterweight last year and is 4-0 in his current stint in the welterweight division. Many believe that his world-class BJJ background could help him go toe to toe against Usman’s elite wrestling skills.
Furthermore, Burns is also an ever-improving striker. That, combined with his BJJ arsenal, is what fans and experts alike suggest would pose a considerable threat to the reign of Usman as the UFC welterweight champion.
Burns has his sights set on the UFC welterweight title fight against Kamaru Usman, with the fight purportedly set to take place at UFC 258 on February 13, 2021.
Although Burns has not been competing in BJJ or any other MMA fights of late – being solely focused on his title fight – he did call out MMA legend Nate Diaz for a grappling match at Chael Sonnen’s Submission Underground promotion earlier this year.
This tenacity, in addition to his consistent UFC performances, has garnered Burns a considerable amount of praise from the MMA world for his will to compete and keep improving.