At 38 years old, Gilbert Burns knows he is nearing the end of his mixed martial arts career.
These days, staying healthy and recovering from training has been as much of a struggle as fighting some of the best 170-pounders in the UFC two or three times a year.
“It's kind of hard to stay 100 percent healthy right now,” Barnes explained to The Washington Post in a video call on Tuesday. “I'm getting more injuries, so I have to slow down. I have to train, but then I have to work on recovering more.”
But the former UFC welterweight title challenger believes he can still compete with the division's elite, and he'll look to prove it when he takes on Shawn Brady in the main event of UFC Fight Night: The Finals on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
A quick look at Burns' recent record shows he is coming off the first losing streak of his career in this match, with the Brazilian having lost three of his five matches since 2022.
But the names attached to those stains, the men who brought “Durinho” failure, are truly elite: Khamzat Chimaev, an unbeaten welterweight monster who seems no longer up to par; Belal Muhammad, the current 170-pound champion; and Jacques Della Maddalena, who may take the belt from the champion within a year.
Yet Burns was 90 seconds into his March bout with Della Maddalena on the scorecards before the Australian fought back with knees and elbows to win by knockout in a stunning comeback. Even his loss to Chimaev, a 2022 Fight of the Year candidate, could have been scored in Burns' favor without calls of “robbery.”
So even though 12 years into professional fighting and his training is tougher than ever, there's a reason why Burns (22-7, 15 finishes) is ranked in the top 10 of UFC's own rankings, a few spots behind Philadelphia native Brady (16-1, 8 finishes) at No. 6.
“When I'm at my best in training and in fights, I still feel like I can beat a lot of people,” Barnes said. “I still have the energy to compete.”
By “a lot,” he doesn't mean 20 or so fights, but the push toward one more shot at the championship he missed out on against Kamaru Usman in 2021 is the carrot dangled in front of him to break through a arduous loop of training and recovery that includes red light therapy, compression therapy, a hyperbaric chamber and physical therapy.
It was undoubtedly inspiring for Burns to watch a fellow fighter over 30 win gold over the summer, as his former rival Muhammad won the title in a commanding decision over Leon Edwards just a few weeks after turning 36, making him one of just a few fighters under 170 pounds to win a UFC title fight after turning 35.
Returning to his goal of a rematch with Muhammad, this time for the UFC title, likely won't happen overnight, given the back-to-back losses to the champion and Della Maddalena that Burns brings to the Brady bout.
The loss to Muhammad last May in Newark, New Jersey, was especially frustrating for Burns, who said he injured his shoulder early in the bout and received little attention from the referee in the final two frames of the five-round bout.
“I would love to have that rematch again,” Burns said. “That fight was very hard for me to accept. … I hope that when I get back to the title, he keeps it. [the belt]and let's have a rematch.”
But a matchup against a 31-year-old fighter best known for his grappling would be a welcome one for Burns, who may be at his best on the mat but hasn't always had the chance to show what he's capable of since leaving the lightweight division in 2019.
“I hope we get grappled. I think we'll get grappled,” says Burns, who was once a world-class submission grappler before dedicating all his efforts to his MMA career. “I'll go for the grapple. I'll go for the takedown. … We might avoid each other, it might be a stand-up fight, but I might get a good takedown, he might get the takedown and we might get grappled. I'm looking forward to it. I still believe we'll get grappled.”
Brady comes into the bout fresh off a bounce-back win by submission over Kelvin Gastelum in December after suffering the first setback of his career in a TKO loss to Muhammad last year.
Barnes never expects to beat the younger Brady, even if he's sure the night will be his once the game is over.
“I believe I can beat Shawn Brady. I don't think it's going to be easy,” Barnes said. “I might struggle a little bit, I might give him a little hard time, but at the end of the night, I believe I'm going to win the match.”
And Burns will be looking to name a few names in his next bout to make his champion destiny a reality, all of which have been in one or both halves of the past 10 welterweight title fights.
“I'm looking forward to fighting the number one contender,” he said, “Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman or Colby Covington. After beating Shawn Brady, I'd love to fight any of them and win for a title shot.”
