‘Me and Kamaru had over 200 rounds sparring, at least’ – Gilbert Burns on his upcoming opponent Kamaru Usman!

‘Me and Kamaru had over 200 rounds sparring, at least’ – Gilbert Burns on his upcoming opponent Kamaru Usman!

Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns

Gilbert Burns

Gilbert Burns is hardly twenty days away from his fight against his sparring partner Kamaru Usman at UFC 258. The Brazilian will be looking forward to upsetting ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and earn the coveted Welterweight championship. The fight was initially scheduled on the 12th of July, 2020, but, was later scrapped due to Burns contracting the coronavirus. Then, Jorge Masvidal stepped in place of Burns, and eventually lost to a resolute Usman.

The fight was once again scheduled for UFC 256 on the 12th of December, but was postponed due to Usman needing more time to recover from injuries. And, now the two are all set to face-off.

Speaking of this in an interview with MMA Junkie, Gilbert Burns spoke about how familiar he is with Kamaru Usman; and that they have had over 200 rounds of sparring. He reiterated that both knew each other very well.

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‘We started training together in 2012 in Blackzillians‘ – Gilbert Burns

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Burns was quoted as saying, “Me and Kamaru had over 200 rounds sparring, at least. We started training together in 2012 in Blackzillians. Then Blackzillians broke down, they disappeared, so we moved with Henri Hooft. We went to a place called Combat Club. Then we were there for almost a year, and then we opened up the Hard Knocks. We were at Hard Knocks for two years. Then we moved to Sanford MMA and then we been in Sanford for a total of two years. So I’ve trained with Kamaru for seven years and we both love to train.“

He further added, “He was a good training partner for me and I was good partner for him. Just sparring sessions, over 200. And just the grappling sessions, plus the wrestling sessions, for sure I have so many hours on the mat with Kamaru. We know each other very well.”

Both the fighters are riding massive win streaks. Who do you think has the edge, in the battle of the sparring partners?

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