LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 04: Felice Herrig leaves her gloves in the center of the Octagon after announcing her retirement during the UFC Fight Night event at UFC APEX on June 04, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
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HIGHLIGHTS
Gilbert Burns called it a career on Saturday night in Winnipeg. Burns, a former UFC title challenger, took a rough TKO loss to Mike Malott in the main event of UFC Winnipeg. After the fight, Burns called it a career in an emotional post-fight speech surrounded by his family.
Burns has lost five fights in a row and the last two defeats have come by way of nasty finish.
When you take a look at the way Cub Swanson and Michael Chiesa's careers ended earlier this year and compare it to the way Burns' career has ended, it is easy to see that the former two had the much happier send-offs.
Burns had a solid run, but he probably should have called it a career two fights ago. Malott dropped him with a right hand in Round 3 and finished him with ground-and-pound at 2:08, prompting Burns to tell the crowd "I think that's it… I've had a great career" before leaving his gloves on the canvas in the traditional retirement gesture.
He entered UFC Winnipeg on a four-fight losing streak against top-10 opposition, having dropped bouts to Belal Muhammad, Jack Della Maddalena, Sean Brady, and Michael Morales.
In his prime, Burns had a combination of dangerous striking and elite jiu-jitsu. As he aged, his skills seemed to dull and the losses started to rack up. Burns turns 40 in July and his decision to walk away was a wise one.
At his peak, he ran through names like Tyron Woodley, Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson, and Demian Maia on his way to a welterweight title shot against Kamaru Usman — a career arc that cemented him as one of the most legitimate contenders the division has produced.
He was rarely in a boring fight, and that walk-forward, trade-big-shots style made him a fan favorite at both lightweight and welterweight throughout his 30-fight UFC career.
Burns has done podcast work with Renato Moicano on the Show Me the Money podcast. I'd expect that to continue. On the other side of the main event, Malott's back-to-back wins over Kevin Holland and Burns put him firmly in the ranked welterweight conversation — anything short of a top-10 opponent next would be a disservice to what he's built.
The welterweight division loses one of its most familiar faces, but Saturday night in Winnipeg made clear it has a worthy successor ready to fill that space.
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