Call Gilbert Burns a dreamer, if you wish. Dismiss him as yesterday’s news. Mock him as clueless, if that’s how you see it.
He doesn’t care. He believes.
Despite three consecutive losses, despite the seven men ahead of him in the welterweight rankings, and irrespective of 12th ranked Michael Morales, the highly regarded monster he’ll face Saturday at Apex in Las Vegas, Burns continues to believe he’ll one day hoist that gaudy UFC championship belt over his head.
Why push through the pain if it’s all just a fantasy? Why sacrifice so much if he doesn’t believe the belt is still within reach?
Bettors aren’t giving Burns much of a chance. The unbeaten Morales, 25, is 17-0 with 13 finishes and is a -900 favorite at DraftKings sportsbook. That means if a bettor hopes to win $100 by picking Morales, he has to risk $900.
Criticism comes with the job, and few know that more than Burns, a pro for 13 years who was fighting in the UFC when Morales had just turned 15.
Few know what he’s been through, the hurdles he’s faced along the way, or why he’s convinced his turnaround is imminent, so their opinions aren’t really meaningful.
“If I go out there, beat Michael Morales like I believe I will and if I go back out and beat … another top guy, I’m back in the conversation,” Burns said. “As crazy as it might sound, I believe in that story. I believe in that movie story, that the guy was on a three-fight losing streak and had lost to Kamaru [Usman] and lost a close fight to [Khamzat] Chimaev and then came back and he lost, lost, lost and he hears everyone say, ‘Oh, he’s old. He’s done.’ And I still win? I just love that movie.”
Burns believes the movie can become a beloved documentary instead of a run-of-the-mill drama. He concedes he let his budding fame get to his head, and his preparation took a hit.
After his one-sided loss to Sean Brady in September, he received a phone call from Vagner Rocha, a former UFC fighter and close friend. It wasn’t the most pleasant call.
Rocha didn’t focus on the losses themselves, but the how and the why of them.
Burns grew up poor, and when he began to make money and have success, he lost the hunger that had fueled him in the first place.
“We had a brutally hard conversation,” Burns said. “It’s like you’d have with a real friend when they’re concerned. It was brutally honest, brutally true, right to my face. He asked me, ‘Why are you losing to these guys?’ ”
It was, he said, an eye-opening conversation. It made him take account of where he was, and after he mulled it over, he realized that not only was Rocha right, but he figured out why.
He fought for the title. He was ranked in the top five. He was a legend in jiu-jitsu. His reputation was set.
And so he took his foot off the gas. He enjoyed the good life more than the sacrifices.
“I come from a very humble beginning,” Burns said. “I never starved but I got home multiple times and … the lights were cut [because the bill wasn’t paid]. I had no lights and not a lot of food options. … I had two brothers and it was always very rough. I always wanted to get out of there.
“And then, I had these opportunities start coming and I got mixed up a bit. I fell in love with these things, making money and having the fame. But after that conversation with Rocha, I started to understand that and see that it was [negatively] affecting me.”
The screenplay of Burns’ movie is still being written. Only Burns knows what’s true or not. But he’s been to the mountaintop and he knows what it’s like in that rare air.
Morales is still hungry, still desperate to finish that climb.
That’s the difference between them. In his last six, Burns has fought Chimaev, Neil Magny, Jorge Masvidal, Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena and Brady.
In his last six, Morales has fought Nikolay Veretennikov, Trevin Giles, Adam Fugitt, Max Griffin, Jake Matthews and Magny.
One group is very much not like the other.
Burns understands it’s in the late rounds and the clock is rolling. But he also knows the fight isn’t over until the final bell sounds. He’s rewritten his mindset, reclaimed his hunger and recast himself as an underdog worth watching.
He’s no longer the rising star, or the next big thing. But if Gilbert Burns is right, he’ll still get his Hollywood ending.
If he does, it’s not going to be because of luck. It’ll be because he opened his mind and his heart and listened to a friend whose love was unconditional, who spoke harshly because he cared, and told him a truth that Burns hadn’t wanted to confront.
And if he hoists that belt one day, it’s going to be because he believed when so many others snickered behind his back.
File photo
Gilbert Burns (R) was blown out by Sean Brady in September.