Gilbert Burns will be keeping a close eye on the planned Colby Covington vs. Tyron Woodley fight.
Although it’s not officially confirmed, it is expected that the two heated rivals will compete in a welterweight grudge match in the near future.
Burns most recently defeated Woodley via unanimous decision in May while Covington is an opponent he has had his eye on a for a while as well.
So how does he see it playing out? “Durinho” believes it’s an intriguing matchup which Woodley — currently on a two-fight losing streak — has a good chance of coming out on top.
“I don’t know. It’s an intriguing matchup because Colby is not going to be that dangerous with the hands,” Burns told The Schmo in a recent interview. “So with that being said, Woodley doesn’t need to fight with his hands up, watching for shots. His hands can be a little lower and he’ll be able to defend the takedown easily — he’s very strong.
“I don’t know, I hope Tyron Woodley gets his cardio good, he needs to be strong mentally going into that fight. I’m going to see that one. I hope Tyron Woodley wins that one.”
Burns notably called out Covington following his win over Demian Maia at UFC Brasilia and while he would never support “Chaos” in a fight, at the same time, the former interim champion is at the top of his list in fighters he wants to face.
“I’m always going to be against Colby Covington,” Burns added. “He’s personal. I have a list of a lot of guys that I want to fight and he’s number one. He’s the number one guy that I want to beat up.”
For now, Burns has another fight planned in his welterweight title bout with Kamaru Usman which is expected to be booked in the future. The Brazilian’s ideal date for it is in December and is confident that he will become champion.
Should that be the case, it clears the path for him to get his wish of beating Covington up.
“That’s on my plan,” he said. “I’ll become champion. I’m not being cocky, I’m just confident I’ll become a champion. Yeah, Colby is right there to get his ass whooped.”
