Former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns said that he is content with his decision to retire from MMA.
The 40-year-old Burns retired following a third-round knockout loss to Mike Malott at UFC Winnipeg in April, which was his fifth straight defeat.
Many MMA fighters retire only to come back and fight again, and it oftentimes does not go well.
But for Burns, this decision is permanent, and he’s now happily retired.
Gilbert Burns Won’t Fight Again
Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Burns said that he won’t fight again, as he saw a recent brutal sparring session at Kill Cliff FC while preparing for an RAF wrestling match that reminded him of why he walked away from the sport.
“No, I look at these guys training – so when I was getting ready for RAF, I went to Kill Cliff a lot to wrestle, and I saw these guys sparring, and I don’t miss it at all. I look like, ‘Oh my God, I forgot that. And one guy was dropped by a body shot, the other one almost got kicked in the face, and then knee on the body, and like, yeah, I don’t miss that at all. I’m very happy just grappling, wrestling. I don’t miss it at all, honestly. I look at the fights, and I’m very good friends with (Alexandre Pantoja) Pantoja, and I saw Pantoja fighting a war, and then I’m like, I don’t miss that at all,” Burns said.
Gilbert Burns Happy With UFC Career
Though he didn’t win a UFC belt, Burns says he’s happy with how his career played out.
While he admits that he misses his teammates at Kill Cliff FC, he does not miss getting beat up in training, and that’s why he is happily retired.
“I’m very happy that I did what I did in my career. Fought for the title, got big fights, couple of main events, and I’m done, and I’m very happy that I’m done. I don’t miss at all. I miss my friends and everything, but I have a lot of new friends doing jiu-jitsu every day, grappling. So, yeah, I miss seeing Henri (Hooft) every day, Vicente (Luque) every day, Gregory (Rodrigues) every day. Other than that, I don’t miss the training, I don’t miss getting kneed on my body, low kicks. No, I don’t miss that at all. I’m very happy that I retired,” Burns said.
Gilbert Burns Content With UFC Retirement Decision