Gilbert Burns Admits To Almost Attacking Wonderboy In 2019

Following the defeat of his close friend and teammate, Gilbert Burns remembers when his feelings towards Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson were more hostile.

At UFC 244, “Wonderboy” put on a striking clinic against fellow welterweight Vicente Luque in 2019, who will fight Michael Chiesa later this summer in August. Admittedly, after Thompson bested Luque, Gilbert Burns was overwhelmed with anger and rage and wanted vengeance for his friend and teammate.

Fast forward to 2021, and Burns will get his wish on perhaps the biggest stage of the year when he fights Stephen Thompson this weekend as the co-main event at UFC 264: Poirier vs. McGregor 3.

Right after Luque lost to Thompson, Gilbert Burns details a memory in which he felt the urge to attack “Wonderboy” in the cage. Funnily, very few have had a legitimate beef with Thompson, and this was one of those rare times, it seems.

“I don’t even like to say this… but I got very close to fighting Wonderboy when I got in the Octagon, but I was just like… I was just so mad at the guy,” Gibert Burns said to MiddleEasy.

“I wanna beat this guy up right now. Then Wonderboy came up to me and he says ‘Hey! I’m a huge fan of you! You’re doing great right now!’ and he wanted to shake my hand and want to be so nice… and I was just like… I shook his hand and looked at his eyes…” Burns said.

Burns ultimately decided that he would not act on impulse and emotion. Sure enough, the Brazilian Jui-Jitsu 3rd-degree blackbelt shook the hand of his future opponent.

“I said nothing. If I said something, we would fight,” Burns added. “Like I didn’t say nothing, I just shook his hand, look in his eyes, like, so mad.”

Burns is currently ranked above Thompson at #2 in the welterweight rankings, so there are definite title implications surrounding this co-main event. As Kamaru Usman continues his reign of dominance, there are few welterweights he has yet to face, and Thompson is one of them—and the karate specialist likes the stylistic matchup.