Gilbert Burns hopes to jump past Colby Covington for title shot with spectacular performance at UFC 288
UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns says he hopes to jump past Colby Covington for a welterweight title shot with a spectacular performance at UFC 288.
Burns takes on Belal Muhammad in the co-main event of UFC 288 next month. Since it’s a five-round fight, Burns has an extra 10 minutes to look for the finish, and he believes if he does that, he could be next in line for a title shot. Recently, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Covington would be next in line to fight UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. But Burns believes he could potentially jump past Covington.
Speaking to Submission Radio in a recent interview, Burns said that the winner of his fight with Muhammad would be next in line for a title shot behind Covington. But the Brazilian is hoping that he can have such a good performance against Muhammad next month that the UFC has no choice but to skip the submission ace past Covington and give him the next title shot in his division.
“Whoever wins takes the title shot (after Covington). I would love to say we are next, but Colby is definitely next. (But) let’s see. Another thing is about the performance. If I go out there (at UFC 288) and knock this guy out or submit him or do something spectacular, they’re going to say, ‘Man, why Colby? Why not this guy?'” Burns said (via MMANews.com). “So that’s another thing that I’m doing too. I was looking to get a finish against Masvidal, but I couldn’t; I couldn’t make that spectacular. But I do think if I get a spectacular finish this time, I might jump over this guy (Covington). Maybe, we’ll see.”
Do you think Gilbert Burns will defeat Belal Muhammad in spectacular fashion and skip past Colby Covington in the welterweight title shot queue?
