Gilbert Burns Happy In Hostile Territory

Burns quickly made sure to acknowledge the success of his prior opponents and give them full credit for handling their business. While the context surrounding those fights and the caliber of competition he’s fought matters, the end results were not what he wanted and proved to be a catalyst for some difficult conversations with himself and his inner circle.

“I tried to see it in a good way,” offered the 11th-ranked welterweight, who carries a 22-9 mark into Saturday night’s main event. “I think it was a good opportunity to look myself in the mirror, see a couple little things that I’ve gotta change. It’s not big things — change the team, change management; it’s little things I have to change inside of me.

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“I gotta look in the mirror and reflect, say, ‘Okay, I’m doing something wrong.’ They’re hard matchups, yes, but I’m not performing the way I want, so it was a little bit of looking back and [identifying the mistakes] that needed to be corrected.

“It was good to sit down with the coaches, open up, talk about ‘I felt this weakness here; I felt this in this fight,’ and then make a plan to get back to work, get strong again,” continued Burns. “It was nice sitting down with the team, having an open conversation — a brutally honest conversation — and then re-start. It was honestly kind of refreshing.”

“Sometimes it’s gonna be a hard conversation — it’s never gonna just be ‘Yeah, let’s go!’ It’s gonna be ‘You’re doing everything wrong. You’ve gotta change this, change that; that’s not the way we should do it,’ and that’s good.

“Every single person was able to help bring me back up, bring my confidence back, get me in good shape; all the little things that matter,” he added. “It’s kind of like a domino: whenever the one thing went down, we go piece-by-piece putting everything back again.”

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With everything back in place, he’s ready to step into the fray once more, and was more than happy to accept the call to venture to Winnipeg and face the leader of the “Maple Leaf Militia” this weekend.

“I think Mike Malott earned a fight at the Top 15, the Top 10 and I’m a guy that is gonna hold onto that position and say, ‘I’m just fighting forward,’” offered the veteran, explaining his perspective on this weekend’s headline pairing. “I gotta test myself, and I think he’s a great test.

“When they asked me, I was thinking I was gonna fight in Miami, and they said, ‘We wanna do a card in Winnipeg; are you okay with that?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, for sure.’ Mike Malott was already the name, and if I still wanna do this at the highest level, why not Mike Malott? So I said, ‘Let’s do this!’

“I think he’s well-rounded,” continued Burns, shifting his focus to the skills Malott brings to the table this weekend. “He fought good competition, he finished a couple fights, got a couple good knockouts. Kevin Holland was a weird fight, but he showed up, he was trying to bring the fight. It got a little weird, but he was there and trying to fight. He finished ‘Chuck Buffalo’ who is tough. He got a couple good finishes, he’s got good jiu jitsu I think.

“He deserves a shot at the top of the division and who am I to say, ‘No’ to this fight? He deserves it.”

As easy as competing at UFC 327 in Miami would’ve been for the Florida native, Burns was happy to watch his teammate Luque shine. Burns admittedly relishes the opportunity to venture into hostile territory once again on Saturday night.

“I love hostile territory,” he said with a smirk. “I fought [Olivier] Aubin-Mercier in Toronto; the whole crowd was against me. I went to Denmark, took on Gunnar Nelson. I went to different places, especially in jiu-jitsu, where the crowd is against me, and I kind of like it more to be honest.

“Whenever it’s in Miami or Brazil, there is a lot of pressure, a lot of friends asking for tickets; family and everything is overwhelming. Winnipeg? A couple friends are going and I know the Brazilian community in Canada is huge, but all the pressure is on Mike Malott. I’m Gilbert Burns, four-fight losing streak, gonna turn 40 this year. All the pressure is on him; I’m chilling.”

Burns laughed, but there is an undeniable element of truth to his statement.

While the Brazilian may be the “A-Side” in the matchup and the one with a ranking next to his name, all eyes are on Malott heading into this one, as it’s his chance to keep his momentum rolling and catapult himself into the thick of the Top 15 with a fourth straight win.

That reality has provided Burns with a little extra comfort as he’s prepared for the weekend, allowing him to maintain a relaxed approach to things.

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“I still believe I can do this at the highest level,” he said. “I don’t need to prove anything to anyone — I’ve had a great career — but I’ve still got a little bit left in the tank; I’ve still got a couple more fights, a couple more walks. This fight, I’m coming in with no pressure. I know I gotta win — it’s a must-win — but it’s just about enjoying myself in there.

“As crazy as it sounds, I’m confident for this fight — to be out there, showcasing my skills; have fun, doing my things. It’s a good matchup — it’s not easy, but it’s a good matchup.”

Shaking off the impact of a loss is a difficult task, and it only continues to compound as the setbacks mount. As such, Burns knows there will be moments where doubt creeps into his mind during the week, that there will be some familiar, unsettling feelings that present themselves once he’s out there.

But he also knows that he’s done everything he can to prepare himself to be successful on Saturday, and ultimately, that’s all that he can control.

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“I’m confident, but we’re gonna see April 18 after I get in the Octagon,” said Burns. “I know there is gonna be booing, I know there are gonna be doubts, déjà vu of a couple things are gonna come in that moment, but I’ve just got to embrace that. I’ve been in here with the best.

“I don’t need to do this — I want to do this — so let’s have fun. Let’s put everything I trained into these 25 minutes and see what happens.”