Written by Gilbert Burns | Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Gilbert Burns arrives UFC Vegas 106 at a crossroads, having lost three fights in a row for the first time in his 13-year career. He sees Saturday’s clash with hyped-up 17-0 welterweight Michael Morales as the ideal start for a movie-like turnaround.
Burns headlines the UFC Fight Night card in Las Vegas after the promotion announced the decision to move them from this past weekend’s UFC 315 lineup in Canada, but “Durinho” said it’s been pushed back many times before. Week after week, from the April 12 pay-per-view in Miami to Kansas City to Des Moines to Montreal and now UFC APEX.
“But it was good,” Burns told MMA Fighting,” Because it gave me more time to prepare and study this guy.”
Burns has had one of the busiest runs in the UFC since the pandemic hit in the first quarter of 2020, challenging then-champion Kamaru Usman and facing the likes of Demian Maia, Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson, Khamzat Chimaev, Jorge Masvidal, Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, and Sean Brady. The jiu-jitsu world champion went 5-5 over that period of time, and had to have some tough conversations after the latest setback.
Vagner Rocha, a jiu-jitsu veteran who decided to stop cornering fighters after witnessing up-close knockout losses for Burns and Marlon Moraes, reached out after “Durinho” lost a decision to Brady in September 2024.
“He was black and white, hard honest talk, speaking truths that I needed to hear. It was hard to listen, actually,” Burns said. “He talked about training, potential, about everything I wasn’t doing, what I should do, about injuries, about everything. That was at the end of last year. And then he said he wanted to be with me again. But for him to be as my trainer, he would have to be all-in and more. So we got this partnership and it has changed a lot in my training. I’ve done a lot more of jiu-jitsu.”
That conversation led to many “internal changes” in terms of trainers, helping Burns move on from a loss that left a bad taste in his mouth.
“I didn’t make weight well, I didn’t recovered well, I fought with no energy,” Burns said of the Brady match. “It wasn’t that ‘Durinho’. The Durinho that lost to Belal, no problem. I got injured, it happens. Jack, too, I was winning and got knocked out, it happens. I’ve made some mistakes that can be fixed. But that last one was stuck [in my throat] so I had to make some changes. Not much about the fight, but so I can perform the way I perform, you know?”
Burns called in Vicente Luque’s cousin Lucas Catta Preta as his nutritionist, and had Henry Hooft leading the camp with scouting support from Daniel Mendes all the way from Brazil. With all that, and having trained with rangy fighters in Shavkat Rakhmonov and Ian Machado Garry, Burns feels “very confident” going into his 25-minute showdown with Morales.
“I have to be smart and follow the strategy we have planned because he’s a very athletic guy,” Burns said. “I can see he’s very strong, very explosive, too lengthy for the division. It’s one of the longest reaches of the division. He’ll be very dangerous early. And I think he’s so athletic sometimes he doesn’t win with the technique but with reflexes and speed. We have to kind of drown him to end with this explosiveness, speed and athleticism. We’ll use all that with our movement, takedowns, control, good defense and attacks. That’s what I plan to do. I think this is the path to victory against him. I’ll have to use all my experience to beat this guy.”
Four losses in a row would be hard to ignore, especially when you’re about to turn 39, but Burns is confident that even in a negative scenario his job is safe. Having said that, Durinho looks at UFC Vegas 106 confident that he’s coming out victorious. The fact that not long ago he delivered a competitive performance against Della Maddalena, who just claimed the welterweight belt in Montreal, provides belief for Burns that he’s a few tweaks away from the top of the division.
“This is the fight to go back to the winning track,” Burns said. “I know it won’t move me in the ranking, but that doesn’t matter. [Della Maddalena] became top 4 when he defeated me and fought for the belt and won. I’m coming off a loss, there’s not much I can do. I know [Morales is] tough, but I know I can beat him. I have confidence. I believe I will beat him. But it’s a risk for both of us. Me trying to get back on the winning track and him trying to continue climbing the ranking.”
“I believe I’m two wins away from the mix,” he continued. “I haven’t lost to jabronis, I lost to Kamaru, a champion. I lost to Chimaev, who’s fighting for the belt. I lost to Belal, who became champion. I lost to Jack, who became champion. To Sean Brady, who’s the No. 1 contender now. I fight everybody, so I think the UFC respects that, too. I’m on the path. I have to get back to the winning track, to believe on the adjusts I’m making. It’s not far. I believe that a good win over Morales puts me back in the game. One more big victory, it’s going to be like a movie, brother. Imagine that, Durinho champion, that’s a movie. It’s on me to believe and turn this movie into reality. Let’s work, let’s do our best to make this happen.”