Outside Source
Gilbert Burns’ celebrity status following his fight with Khamzat Chimaev may have robbed him of some hunger.
Burns (22-8) came up short in a welterweight championship bid against former teammate Kamaru Usman in 2021. After bouncing back with a win over Stephen Thompson, a still peaking Burns was matched up in a potential title eliminator against Khamzat Chimaev. “Durinho” put on arguably one of the greatest performances of his life in a barnburner, despite dropping a unanimous decision against the undefeated contender.
Burns recently revealed that the hype behind that matchup changed things for him. Along with recognition and fame came financial benefits and sponsorships, for which the Brazilian is grateful. However, Burns believes the attention might have impacted his career adversely as he gradually strayed from his goal.
“I think it a got a lot of recognition, what is not a bad thing. It was good, lot of opportunities, couple of sponsors, the fans recognizing everywhere,” Burns told Home of Fight. “And it built up my platform to a different level. But then you kind of get caught up with these a little bit, like making money, travelling, getting recognition. And I think that kind of took me slowly away of my path, that ‘Durinho’ that trains hard, want to become a champion. Was not a bad thing to have that financial growth but it kind of took me little bit out of my path.”
Burns bounced back from the Chimaev loss with consecutive wins over Neil Magny and Jorge Masvidal. However, the former title challenger has since dropped three straight against former champ Belal Muhammad, current ace Jack Della Maddalena and No. 2-ranked contender Sean Brady. Burns is now scheduled to fight undefeated contender Michael Morales (17-0) in the UFC Vegas 106 main event on Saturday.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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