Gilbert Burns responds to recent criticism from Dana White: “He wants my fight to be a banger”

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns understands the recent criticism from Dana White, saying that “he wants my fight to be a banger.”

Burns defeated Stephen Thompson in the co-main event of UFC 264 earlier this month, but White criticized his performance, suggesting that it wasn’t an exciting fight. At the end of the day, Burns did what he needed to do to get his hand raised. While it wasn’t the standup war that apparently White had hoped for, Burns fought a smart game plan as he took down a superior striker and controlled him on the mat for a unanimous decision victory.

While White’s comments about Burns suggest that maybe he’s in the dog house with the UFC president after the Thompson fight, the Brazilian believes he will be able to get back into White’s good books very soon. As far as Burns goes, White is a very emotional fight promoter, but at the end of the day, he will give the title shot to the most deserving man.

“After (Ngannou) lost the title shot, who was his first fight? How was that fight? Who won that fight? (Derrick Lewis) – it wasn’t Francis. So every weekend he makes fights, and he said the same thing about Ciryl Gane a couple of fights ago, ‘I don’t like that performance.’ He’s fighting for the (interim) title right now (at UFC 265),” Burns told MMAFighting.com.

“He is very hard nowadays. Dana White’s very emotional, for sure. He wants my fight to be a banger. He wants Conor McGregor’s fight to be a banger, and I understand. As a promoter, that’s what you have to do. I understand his opinion, but I don’t rely on it. That’s not going to define what I do next.”

Do you think we will see Gilbert Burns go back to his striking in his next fight after being criticized by Dana White for his performance against Stephen Thompson at UFC 264?