The inclusion of Masvidal on the cardboard is partly an overture to the struggle’s host metropolis of Miami, the place the U.F.C. has not had an occasion since 2003, an period wherein replays of its fights had been made broadly accessible on DVD reasonably than via streaming video providers. Masvidal trains at American Prime Group in close by Coconut Creek, Fla., some of the distinguished gyms within the sport, and is likely one of the most outspoken personalities within the U.F.C., having as soon as headlined a bout in Madison Sq. Backyard.
U.F.C. President Dana White stated in an interview that he wished to provide a card robust sufficient to compete with Miami’s different leisure choices, such because the seashore and town’s nightlife. “Again within the day, should you had been a struggle promoter, you both did fights in Las Vegas, Atlantic Metropolis or Madison Sq. Backyard,” White stated. He added: “We take this factor in all places, and the way in which that this factor has grown, it was time to come back again.”
Although Masvidal is a draw, he’s on a three-fight dropping streak, together with back-to-back title-shot losses towards the previous 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman and a choice defeat to Colby Covington, who turned a bitter rival to Masvidal after they had been as soon as roommates and coaching companions.
Burns, who additionally trains in South Florida, has remained close to the highest of the division’s rankings regardless of dropping to Usman in 2021. Their struggle will pit Burns’s grappling towards Masvidal’s boxing, and the winner will doubtless be in line for a title shot within the close to future, White stated, after Covington fights the present champion, Leon Edwards.
Masvidal, who entered the U.F.C. in 2013 and turns 39 in November, didn’t say whether or not he would retire if Burns defeated him, however he did say it could trigger a critical reflection, particularly if he loses in entrance of a hometown crowd.
“If I endure a fourth loss, plenty of analysis has to happen,” Masvidal stated.