Gilbert Burns apologizes to Jorge Masvidal and his team for accusing Masvidal of greasing during their fight at UFC 287 and praises Masvidal’s toughness in his final fight.
Gilbert Burns doesn’t have many regrets about his performance at UFC 287, but he wishes he could take back some post-fight comments. In the wake of his unanimous decision win in the co-main event, Burns had accused Jorge Masvidal of greasing during their fight, which made it harder for him to maintain control after scoring numerous takedowns. At the post-fight press conference, Burns stated that he believed Masvidal used an old school method that involved putting lotion on his body, allowing the lotion to absorb, showering, then repeating the process several times so when he would sweat, his body would feel more slippery.
Now days after the fight, Burns sent a heartfelt message to Masvidal and his coaches to apologize for his accusations. “To be honest, I was in the moment right after the fight,” Burns explained. “I think I made a mistake accusing the guy of doing that. Right now, Jorge is done, he’s not fighting anymore. I don’t want be the guy pointing fingers and making excuses for the fight. I just want to make that statement — I want to apologize to Jorge, the things that I said, accusing him of using. I still think he was more slippery than usual but I cannot say that he did that, pointing fingers. So my apology to Jorge and his team.”
In the aftermath of the initial accusations, Masvidal denied any wrongdoing while adding that “maybe I’m the sweatiest motherf***** he knows, but I’ve never greased.’ Burns takes Masvidal at his word and admits he was wrong to make those accusations. According to Burns, he was mostly upset with himself that he wasn’t able to secure a finish in the fight, which is what he wanted in order to make a louder statement with hopes that a win could secure him a title shot.
“I’m not a guy that complains and makes excuses,” Burns said. “If he did something, it’s all good but I’m not 100 percent sure that he did and I apologize saying that I know he did for a fact, 100 percent. No, I apologize to Jorge and his team. He’s a freaking legend, 52 fights, going out on his shield. A lot of fights in the UFC. I just want to take that one back. I think I made a mistake kind of pointing fingers saying he did that. It was just in the moment. A little frustrated that I didn’t get the finish. I don’t want no drama with that, I’m cool with Jorge. He did his thing and I hope he accepts my apologies.”