Gilbert Burns Hates Losing More Than He Likes Winning

In an interview with MMA Junkie, Gilbert Burns (11-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) said that he hated losing more than he enjoyed winning. This came after his first UFC and MMA loss, whihc was to Rashid Magomedov at UFC Fight Night 77. His next fight is against Lukasz Sajewski (13-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 90. Here are highlights:

On his experience with losing: “Defeats are awful. I hate losing more than I like winning. It’s a horrible feeling. I get very emotional. It’s not like I’m not used to losses, I’ve lost in jiu-jitsu. But it’s different – there are many fights, and the tournament goes on year-round, in various competitions. You lose one, but then the next weekend your fighting again. It’s not like that in MMA. It took about two weeks for me to digest it. I was dreaming about it, thinking, but then after these two weeks I went back, rewatched the fight, and saw I did many good things, too. I lacked patience and intelligence at points. Maybe not brawling so much – sticking to strategy, not being as predictable. I missed some details. (Magomedov) is very patient, very collected, and that made me more anxious and frustrated. He was better than I was that night.”

On how he plans to recover: “I wanted to come back slowly, rethink everything, correct what needed correcting. I got back to this camp very well-prepared. I think defeats make you evolve not only as an athlete, but overall. Even your finances are affected, since you don’t get the win bonus.You learn how to deal with many things. With your feelings, with your friends, with your coaches. People who are with you when you’re winning don’t always stay with you in defeat. When you’re winning, everything falls into place. Even when you make mistakes. I always look back on my fights, even the winning ones, but you tend to not focus so much on the negatives and move on to the next one. And with this loss, I noticed mistakes that were slipping by, that we were patching up. A defeat makes you have to stop, analyze, and really see your career as a whole.”

On his fight with Sajewski: “We’re both coming off losses, so there’s that extra motivation to stay in the promotion and perform well – as well as the pressure. It’s a good matchup, because he’s also a grappler, and he also really wants it. But I think what he does well, I do better – which is jiu-jitsu. The striking is pretty much on the same level, the wrestling as well. But I have the advantage on the ground. He’s not stone-handed, he doesn’t have various knockouts, but he’s tough. He brings the pressure, throws good punches and kicks, has good wrestling and jiu-jitsu. He’s dangerous. But I want to run over everyone who’s in front of me. And my goal is to finish it. It’s what I always say. There are a lot of complaints about judging, and I don’t like that. If the fight is spent on the feet, I’ll try to knock him out. If I take him down, I’ll go for the submission. There’s no mystery there.”