“He doesn’t accept fights”- Gilbert Burns accuses Colby Covington of picking up easy opponents


“He doesn’t accept fights”- Gilbert Burns accuses Colby Covington of picking up easy opponents

Gilbert Burns on Colby Covington

Gilbert Burns gives his honest opinion of Covington! Colby Covington is undoubtedly one of the biggest names in the UFC right now. The former interim welterweight champion is coming off a dominant win against his arch-nemesis, Jorge Masvidal, and things went a little far away between them when Masvidal assaulted Covington outside a steak restaurant in Miami. He faced legal charges for the same, and Covington is yet to react to the situation.

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Covington is 9-2 in his last 11 fights, and these two losses came in neck-to-neck battles against the champ, Kamaru Usman. He possesses an exceptional skill set, and he’s the number 1 ranked welterweight in the world right now. Number 2 ranked welterweight, Gilbert Burns is set to face Khamzat Chimaev next, and he had a thing or two to say about Covington.

Colby called out his former teammate, Dustin Poirier after his last bout, and Burns believed it showed his character. “Covington dropped the ball by asking for Poirier instead of (welterweight) contender. 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,” Burns said while talking to MMA Fighting.

“It wasn’t like, Wow, he killed the guy”– Gilbert Burns wasn’t impressed by Colby Covington’s performance against Jorge Masvidal

Gilbert-Burns-Colby-Covington
Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington

Burns also accused Colby of ducking legit contenders, and taking on easy opponents, he said, “Colby is very smart. 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. 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?”

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Related – “Both guys are wrong” Kamaru Usman weighs in on Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington’s actions outside the octagon

Even though Burns respects Colby’s skills, he believes he lacks in certain departments. “He has this annoying volume of taking you down and staying on top, but doesn’t have effective jiu-jitsu, won’t take you down and finish you, won’t ground and pound you like Khabib, who rips you apart. This is a fight I want in the future. It was a good performance but not something we didn’t expect. It wasn’t like, ‘Wow, he killed the guy.’ He won, but no big deal,” Burns concluded.

Also read – “Maybe title shot, maybe Colby fight”- Gilbert Burns suspects he might have to beat Colby Covington to get a title shot