Gilbert Burns takes on Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299, in Miami, and it will be the Brazilian’s first fight in almost a year since his injury.
Gilbert Burns who fights out of Kill Cliff in Flordia, will be fighting in ‘The Sunshine State’ for the fourth time in his professional career and is looking to rebound from a disappointing loss to Belal Muhammad.
The Australian, Jack Della Maddalena, is on an awe-inspiring run that has found him fighting in a title eliminator fight just two years after his UFC debut. In the process, he has become a significantly popular fighter amongst fans because of his tactically dangerous style.
His last fight came at Noche UFC back in September, where he and Kevin Holland fought over a highly competitive three rounds.
Della Maddalena has the chance to climb at least seven spots in the 170lb rankings with a win over the fourth-ranked Burns.
Gilbert Burns self-critical of last performance, confident ahead of 299
At the UFC 299 media day, the 37-year-old was critical of his performance last time out against Muhammad and talked about the frustrations of not being able to right his wrongs due to the injury he sustained.
“I’m criticizing myself watching the fight (last fight) trying to see what I can do better, I was going crazy wanting to go back and fix that but I couldn’t do it. I was cleared to begin full training in November but I was dying to be back.” Burns explained.
Despite being out for almost a year, Burns talked about the excitement he is feeling ahead of his fight with Della Maddalena. ‘Durinho’ admitted that he feels he will be able to put the 27-year-old in bad positions, and ultimately find the finish.
“Grateful to be back now though fighting in Miami against a tough guy. I see a very tough challenge but I do believe I’m going to be able to get a finish and to put him in very bad positions and hurt him.”
Jack Della Maddalena has only suffered two defeats in his professional career, and they came in his first two fights. Despite that, he was finished in both suffering a TKO and a submission loss.
15 of Gilbert Burns’ 22 career wins have come via finish, and he is regarded as one of the best jiu-jitsu practitioners in MMA.