Gilbert Burns reveals the extent of the shoulder injury he suffered in UFC 288 loss to Belal Muhammad: “I thought about quitting many times”

By Harry Kettle - May 11, 2023

Gilbert Burns has revealed the extent of the shoulder injury that he suffered at UFC 288 during his loss to Belal Muhammad.

Gilbert Burns Belal Muhammad

Throughout the course of their co-main event over the weekend, it became clear that something was wrong with Gilbert Burns. He didn’t appear to be moving as he usually does and his body language, especially between rounds, was questionable.

In the end, we found out that he had sustained a shoulder injury that really limited his movement and effectiveness against Belal.

Muhammad was able to stick to his game plan and as a result, got his hand raised via unanimous decision.

During an exclusive interview on his YouTube channel, Burns spoke candidly about the injury and what was going through his mind.

“I have AC joint torn, but it’s a second or third grade so it’s not that bad. I have the deltoid torn, I have on the trapeze, I have a muscle torn, I sprain my C4 and my C5. Nothing major, thank god I don’t need surgery, I’m thinking more a strong anti-inflammatory!”

“It was hard. I was just trying to figure it out, what I could do. It was a battle. The amount of work I put in to get this fight, and the amount of work I put in period.”

“A lot of things were going through my mind like, s***, can I fight like that, let’s find a way, let’s try this, it didn’t work that. Let’s try that, it didn’t work.”

Burns fights through

“Henry was the one that kept me going. I thought about quitting many times. I didn’t quit, but I thought about it. It was that mental battle. I was even listening to his corner a lot.”

“There was something in me that was like, no way, there’s no way this guy is gonna finish me.”

What’s next for Gilbert Burns? Let us know in the comments, BJPENN Nation!

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


Topics:

Belal Muhammad Gilbert Burns