Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad go back and forth over potential UFC 288 co-main event: “Guy cannot make weight?”

UFC 288 might have a co-main event, but that’s still far from official.

The card is slated for next month and will be headlined by Aljamain Sterling’s title defense against the returning Henry Cejudo. While the main event is still slated for May, last week, the event took a big hit. Charles Oliveira was originally slated to face Beneil Dariush in the co-main event, but ‘Do Bronx’ pulled out due to injury.

With that, there’s now a gap on the card, and two welterweights might fill it. On Twitter, Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad showed interest in fighting on UFC 288. ‘Durinho’ just defeated Jorge Masvidal by unanimous decision earlier this month at UFC 287, but is seemingly down to make a quick turnaround.

However, that turnaround is far from official, and might not even happen. Just hours after the two verbally agreed to fight next month, they began teasing that there were issues. Burns seemed to hint that Muhammad couldn’t make weight for UFC 288. To his credit, ‘Remember the Name’ didn’t deny the claim.

However, the welterweight contender added that the event is just days after Ramadan. As a result, he’d have a much harder time making weight than necessary and requested a catchweight. Muhammad later added that he’s surprised Burns would want to cut more weight after having just done so earlier this month.

Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad tease UFC 288 co-main event

May 6! Co main #ufc288 ☎️ pic.twitter.com/pa4OPiJVRJ

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) April 17, 2023

“May 6! Co main #UFC288”

Guy cannot make weight? 🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️🤦🏾‍♂️

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) April 17, 2023

“Guy cannot make weight?”

Lol u just came off fight camp and made weight last week and u don’t want to do a catchweight with another welterweight that just got off the couch ?🤷‍♂️ https://t.co/v61KVSLOu6

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) April 17, 2023

“Lol u just came off fight camp and made weight last week and u don’t want to do a catchweight with another welterweight that just got off the couch ?”

Lol felder wasn’t in Ramadan

— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) April 17, 2023

“Lol felder wasn’t in Ramadan”

What do you make of these comments? Do you want to see Gilbert Burns vs. Belal Muhammad at UFC 288? Who do you think would win? Sound off in the comment section below PENN Nation!