{"id":323768,"date":"2026-04-24T10:17:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T04:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/?p=323768"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:17:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T04:47:14","slug":"if-i-cant-beat-mike-malott","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/2026\/04\/24\/if-i-cant-beat-mike-malott\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;If I can\u2019t beat Mike Malott&#8230;&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"post-305597\">\n<div class=\"article-follow\">\n<div class=\"article-sharing google-follow\"> <a class=\"fw\" href=\"https:\/\/profile.google.com\/cp\/Cg0vZy8xMWs2azRtMzFf%20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">  <span>Follow us on Google Discover<\/span> <\/a> <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Gilbert Burns planned for his recent fight to be the primary of three that might wrap up his profession.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Following a knockout loss to Mike Malott, Burns retired on the Canada Life Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba this past weekend.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-grvmedia-grv-video GRVMultiVideo\"><\/figure>\n<p>Burns has already set his sights on his next goal as he intends to transition into the business side of the game by becoming a manager.<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, if his recent outing had gone to plan, this profession switch would\u2019ve been placed on the backburner, as \u2018Durinho\u2019 recently revealed.<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"c42f7061-f6aa-423f-9540-7c0c3a33e535\" data-story-name=\"UFC Winnipeg\" data-comment-id=\"ed47ed7f-b558-48bc-9be1-9ec2e8cc32a1\" data-story-slug=\"ufc-winnipeg\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Is Gilbert Burns retiring the correct call?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">The previous welterweight title challenger suffered his fifth loss in a row at UFC Winnipeg.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Gilbert Burns speaks after losing at UFC Winnipeg\" class=\"wp-image-304773\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-912x1140.jpg 912w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/04\/BE-68.jpg 1080w\"><\/div><figcaption title=\"Gilbert Burns speaks after losing at UFC Winnipeg. Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC\">Gilbert Burns speaks after losing at UFC Winnipeg. Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Gilbert Burns desired to fight Colby Covington and retire in Brazil before Mike Malott loss<\/h2>\n<p>In a recent interview with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mmafighting.com\/ufc\/484380\/gilbert-burns-had-3-fight-retirement-plan-but-if-i-cannot-beat-mike-malott-i-shouldnt-be-doing-this\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">MMA Fighting<\/a>, Gilbert Burns said that he was confident he\u2019d beat Mike Malott and that while he respects him, he doesn\u2019t imagine he\u2019s on the \u201chighest level\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Suffering this recent loss immediately brought \u2018Durinho\u2019 to the conclusion that he doesn\u2019t wish to proceed if he\u2019s not competitive with one of the best guys on the planet.<\/p>\n<p>In consequence, Burns canceled his original retirement plans, which included two more fights, one among which might\u2019ve been his last dance in front of his home fans.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf I used to be winning, I used to be going to call out Colby [Covington] for International Fight Week. I had an entire plan,\u201d he said. \u201cWith a win, if I&#8217;m going on the market and I beat this guy and I do a giant callout for International Fight Week, then it is sensible. Then I feel the UFC would give the Colby fight to me. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThen after the Colby fight, then perhaps the last one I do a retirement fight in Brazil. That was my plan. If every part went my way, it could be Colby Covington on International Fight Week after which it could be Daniel Rodriguez or Kevin Holland or Leon Edwards, retirement fight in Brazil. That\u2019s what was going through my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<section class=\"grv-talking-point\" data-trigger=\"vue-sidebar\" data-story-id=\"cdac0cdd-98f2-40a1-b026-b706e6a4744b\" data-story-name=\"MMA Legends\" data-comment-id=\"97beb523-d409-4470-9cdb-184f3150f782\" data-story-slug=\"mma-legends\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__inner\">\n<header class=\"grv-talking-point__header\">  <\/header>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__content\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__cta\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-wrap\">\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__title-content\">\n<h3 class=\"grv-talking-point__title\">Which UFC legend had the worst final run within the promotion?<\/h3>\n<p class=\"grv-talking-point__subtitle\">Comment your pick and reasoning below for the largest fall from grace.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"grv-talking-point__embed\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\">\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"819\" height=\"1024\" loading=\"lazy\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 991px) 100vw, 800px\" src=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-819x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Which UFC legend has the roughest fall from grace?\" class=\"wp-image-290969\" srcset=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-819x1024.jpg 819w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-768x960.jpg 768w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-912x1140.jpg 912w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/1\/2026\/02\/BE-6-1.jpg 1080w\"><\/div><figcaption title=\"Which UFC legend has the roughest fall from grace? Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images\">Which UFC legend has the roughest fall from grace? Credit: Chris Unger\/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p>He could have ended his profession on a five-fight skid but as Burns identified, he was still facing the highest guys in his weight class.<\/p>\n<p>Before this past weekend, the previous title challenger\u2019s losing streak consisted of defeats to Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena, who each went on to develop into champions, and top contenders in Sean Brady and Michael Morales.<\/p>\n<p>Losing to Malott, who hasn\u2019t reached the identical heights as those names as of yet, is where Burns decided that it was best to say goodbye on his own terms.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBehind my head I used to be pondering if I can\u2019t beat Mike Malott, if I lose, if I got finished, I\u2019m done.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"see-more-wrapper lazy see-more-open see-more-blank extra-content\" data-src=\"https:\/\/bloodyelbow.com\/2026\/04\/23\/gilbert-burns-says-he-abandoned-original-retirement-plan-if-i-cant-beat-mike-malott\/none\" data-type=\"subscribe\">\n<div class=\"see-more subscribe\">\n<figure class=\"newsletter\">\n<div><svg class=\"loading\" width=\"118\" height=\"36\" viewbox=\"0 0 118 36\"><use href=\"#dots-svg\"><\/use><\/svg><\/p>\n<div class=\"signup\"><span class=\"hf\">Join Our Newsletter<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Receive a digest of our greatest Bloody Elbow content each week direct to your mailbox<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow us on Google Discover Gilbert Burns planned for his recent fight to be the primary of three that might wrap up his profession. Following a knockout loss to Mike Malott, Burns retired on the Canada Life Center in Winnipeg, Manitoba this past weekend. Burns has already set his sights on his next goal as [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323769,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[338],"tags":[1125,32991,2561],"class_list":["post-323768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-beat","tag-malott","tag-mike"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=323768"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":323771,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/323768\/revisions\/323771"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=323768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=323768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ebiztoday.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=323768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}