The in-form Joaquin Buckley has suggested Gilbert Burns as someone he would like to fight next and it seems like ‘Durinho’ is on-board with the idea.
Buckley had initially tried to call out Conor McGregor on Saturday night after a unanimous decision victory over Nursulton Ruziboev in the co-main event of UFC On ESPN 56 extended his current winning streak to four fights, but of course that was a complete waste of time as he was never going to land such a high-profile fight.
The 30-year-old seemed to realize that himself quite quickly as backstage he began calling out Burns instead.
“Gilbert Burns, I think it’s a beautiful fight, a beautiful matchup,” Buckley said at the post-fight press conference. “I don’t know when he’s going to be cleared or when he’s going to be ready, but Gilbert Burns, definitely.”
The 37-year-old Burns has since responded and confirmed he’d be willing to take that fight.
““Let’s do it,” Burns said on his podcast. “The way I see it like, I’m not in the situation to call anyone out or to pick and choose. OK, I’m No. 6, I think, right now. I don’t know. If they send me, I’ll say yes now. I never say no to a fight, and I’m not planning on start doing.”
Burns suffered a late third round knockout loss to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 in March in a fight he seemed to be winning up until that point. It marked the former welterweight title contender’s second loss in a row, having also been beaten by Belal Muhammad a year ago too.
Burns had beaten Jorge Masvidal and Neil Magny earlier in 2023 though and so he still holds the No.7 spot on the 170lb rankings, four places above Buckley, who is No.11.
