Another Burns brother is set to join the mix in the UFC.
Herbert Burns (9-2-0) and fellow newcomer Nate Landwehr (13-2-0) are set to fight on Jan. 25 in both fighters’ debuts for the UFC, according to Shawn Bitter of Cageside Press. The location of the event has yet to be determined.
Burns is coming off of a summer in which he earned himself a UFC contract.
He was featured on Dana White’s Lookin’ for a Fight following his win in April at Titan FC 54. He finished Luis Gomez with a first-round rear-naked choke for his second straight win.
Burns was not given a contract that night, but he did make his way to Dana White’s Contender Series.
There, Burns notched his third-straight submission. His triangle-choke finish of Darrick Minner — his second straight first-round submission — earned him a shot in the UFC, where he joined his brother Gilbert Burns on the roster.
Gilbert has made waves in recent months for his willingness to step up on short notice and fight across two weight classes, both lightweight and welterweight. After beating Alexy Kunchenko and, more recently, Gunnar Nelson, Gilbert has earned the No. 15 spot in the UFC welterweight rankings.
Herbert, on the other hand, has competed in the featherweight division throughout his career, where he holds a notable win over Timofey Nastyukhin — the man who upset Eddie Alvarez in Alvarez’s ONE Championship debut.
His opponent Landwehr joined the ranks of the UFC by way of M-1 Challenge. He is the latest beneficiary of the UFC’s relationship with the Russian promotion which rewards M-1 champions with UFC contracts.
The 31-year-old fighter — the same age as his opponent — climbed through the rankings of M-1 Challenge after amassing a successful regional record in the United States. He joined the promotion in 2017, and after earning back-to-back wins, he received a shot at the M-1 featherweight title.
Facing off against then-champion Khamzat Dalgiev, Landwehr emerged victorious by way of second-round TKO to claim the belt. The Tennessee native has since defended his title twice, beating Andrey Lezhnev by first-round TKO and Viktor Kolesnik by unanimous decision.