UFC star Gilbert Burns has battle scars stemming from one of his lone street fights.
Gilbert Burns is one of the most dangerous welterweights in the UFC, as evidenced by career wins over the likes of Tyron Woodley, Jorge Masvidal, and Stephen Thompson. Burns also put Kamaru Usman in early trouble in his lone welterweight title challenger at UFC 258, before losing by third-round TKO.
Burns is known as one of the friendliest fighters outside of the Octagon and one of the most ferocious athletes inside the cage. Since making the full-time move from lightweight to welterweight earlier in his promotional tenure, Burns has solidified himself as a UFC fan favorite.
Burns’s toughness and relentlessness culminated in Brazil as a child, and one of his earliest fights nearly turned into a tragic incident.
Gilbert Burns was stabbed for protecting his friend in a chaotic street fight
Many MMA fighters began their fighting aspirations in unsanctioned environments, including the likes of Sean Strickland and the Diaz brothers. Burns is no different, and the UFC star took on a crowd of robbers in defense of his friend.
During a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Burns shared the story of the wildest street fight of his life.
“Two street fights only, just two. It was super crazy, a guy stabbed me in one of those,” Burns shared. “One of my friends is actually one of my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu partners, he’s living in Abu Dhabi right now. He was getting into a fight and it wasn’t his fault, it was actually with a guy that was trying to rob him. But he was a small guy, black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, so one of the guys came running in…like Travis Browne back in the day…and it was the first time I really punched someone…
“Punched the guy, he was knocked out. It became a crazy fight and so big, everyone was against us, knocked a couple guys out. Three or four…bottles and stuff started flying, and it took a while, three or four minutes but it felt so much longer than that. Then the Police came shooting into the air, and then, when everything stopped, we were sweating…and I was wondering why I was sweating so much on my back.
“Put my hands on my back, and there was blood everywhere,” Burns continued. “Got stabbed a couple times on my back during that fight…but the adrenaline was so high that I didn’t feel it…I still have serious scars there, five or six big scars, right on the top of my back.”
Luckily for Burns, he didn’t suffer any prolonged health issues as a result of the street fight earlier in his life. If the worst-case scenario had happened, UFC fans wouldn’t be treated to his electric style and highlight reel performances.
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Gilbert Burns snubbed as Khamzat Chimaev’s toughest UFC opponent
While Burns’ career wins are noteworthy, he’s also known for giving the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev arguably the toughest test of his career at UFC 273. But Chimaev believes another top name, and not Burns, was his toughest puzzle to solve.
Burns and Chimaev treated fans to one of the welterweight division’s all-time greatest scraps at UFC 273, with Chimaev walking away with a closely-contested unanimous decision win. One fight later, Chimaev made the full-time move to the middleweight division and is next in line for a title shot.
As Burns prepares to face the undefeated Michael Morales later this month, he remains one of the most dangerous welterweight contenders. With his back against the wall, Burns will look to turn back the clock and get back into the title mix.