Burns responds to ‘very emotional’ Dana White, defends UFC 264 performance

“I understand his opinion, but I don’t rely on it. That’s not going to define what I do next.”

Dana White wasn’t too thrilled by Gilbert Burn’s unanimous decision win over Stephen Thompson at UFC 264, but ‘Durinho’ couldn’t care less.

Burns was desperate to get back in the winning column following his knockout loss to welterweight champ Kamaru Usman in Feb., and, while he acknowledges that his most recent performance against ‘Wonderboy’ wasn’t anything to write home about, the Brazilian is never going to apologize after a big win.

“I caught myself saying sorry, I said, ‘You know what? Boo,’” Burns said on What the Heck. “I don’t care. “Now that it’s opened up [and crowds are back], you guys want to see more action. But you come in here and do action against these guys. Go forward and swing for the fences, you’ll see what’s going to happen.”

“I was very nervous coming from a knockout loss against the champion and trying to rebuild myself again, make sure I do believe in what I said, that I still have time to be a champion,” he added.

Burns respects White as a promoter but knows the UFC president can get ‘very emotional’ in the immediate aftermath of an event, which is why he doesn’t take the latter’s post-fight criticism too personally.

“After [Ngannou] lost the title shot, who was his first fight? How was that fight? Who won that fight? [Derrick] ‘Black Beast’ [Lewis} – it wasn’t Francis. So every weekend [White] 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.

“[White 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.”

Burns’ victory over Thompson was crucial to maintain his position in the top three, as the No. 3-ranked welterweight is likely only one more win away from another title shot.