It's no secret that Colby Covington is not a very popular man when it comes to how other fighters in the UFC see him. Gilbert Burns recently came out and talked about how the Florida-based fighter has been avoiding some of the top welterweights.
Gilbert Burns has been trying to fight Colby Covington for a long time and hasn't been able to get the fight booked. The Brazilian spoke out about the UFC welterweight in a recent interview.
“Covington dropped the ball by asking for Poirier instead of a [welterweight] contender,” Burns said on a recent episode of MMA Fighting’s Portuguese-language podcast Trocação Franca. “He doesn’t accept fights. That’s the hard part. I’ve been trying to get a fight with Colby for years and can’t.”
Gilbert Burns has not been a fan of the way Colby Covington manages his UFC career but he does admit that it's very smart. The Brazilian points to the fact that the American fighter has not faced many top contenders.
“Colby is very smart,” said UFC welterweight Burns. “If you look at his fights, he doesn’t fight anyone who’s coming off a win. ‘Oh, if it wasn’t for Usman, he’d be champion.’ Really? Fighting against nobodies, no contenders? He’s someone I’d like to fight. [Do] I think this fight is really going to happen? I don’t know, he doesn’t accept it and negotiates well, goes out there and talks a bunch of crazy stuff and a lot of people like his crazy talk. What can I do?
“I don’t think he’s this monster, the king of cardio, but he fights people at the end of their careers, Masvidal, and does well. But he’s on my list. He’s one of the first on my list to fight.”