No Dimming the Competitive Fire Inside Gilbert Burns

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The ice where Gilbert Burns skates has grown perilously thin.

“Durinho” will attempt to stabilize himself near the top of the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight division when he faces Michael Morales in the UFC Fight Night 256 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Burns, 38, has pieced together an excellent 15-8 record across his 23 appearances inside the Octagon. However, he finds himself from three consecutive losses following a unanimous decision defeat to Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 242 on Sept. 7.

“It’s a new moment in my UFC career,” Burns said. “I had never gone through a two-fight losing streak, much less a three-fight losing streak. I had to learn lessons from all that and find ways to evolve. I changed from the inside. I grew from it. There’s always pressure, but this pressure allows me to bring my best. I’m battle-tested. I’ll use that experience to stay cool under pressure, have a good weight cut and a good fight week and apply my strategy on fight night to beat Michael.”

Morales has emerged as one of the sport’s most promising young welterweights. The 25-year-old Ecuador native has won all 17 of his bouts as a pro, five of them in the UFC. Morales last fought at UFC on ESPN 62, where he dispatched Neil Magny with punches 4:39 into their Aug. 24 confrontation. It was the eighth first-round finish of the Entram Gym rep’s career.

“Michael is a young athletic guy who’s very good and very strong,” Burns said. “He has heavy hands and good boxing skills. He has great takedown defense. He seems very complete. Of course, my jiu-jitsu is very high-level, so I do want to grapple against him. Before that, I’ll have to fight him on the feet and take him down, so I expect a tough challenge.”

Burns operates out of the star-studded Kill Cliff Fight Club camp in Deerfield Beach, Florida, where he trains under Henri Hooft and Vagner Rocha. Daniel Evangelista and Dietter Navarro continue to play vital roles on his coaching staff, as well. Dilano Taylor, Vicente Luque, Logan Storley and former Bellator MMA champion Jason Jackson served as Burns’ sparring partners.

“I’m looking forward to honoring my team in this fight,” he said.

Almost 800 days now stand between Burns and his most recent victory—a unanimous decision over American Top Team’s Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 in 2023. Because of the precarious situation in which he finds himself, he has developed no plans beyond his forthcoming encounter with Morales.

“My main goal is to be 100% ready to get back to my winning ways,” Burns said. “After that, we’ll see what’s next.”