Back to the MMA Newsfeed

Gilbert Burns reveals main reason why he volunteered to fight Gunnar Nelson on short notice at UFC Copenhagen

There’s one good reason why Gilbert Burns offered to replace Thiago Alves on two weeks’ notice against fellow welterweight grappler Gunnar Nelson in Denmark.

Naturally, it’s Twitter.

“Durinho” was bound for Vancouver to help teammate Chas Skelly prepare for his UFC bout with Jordan Griffin when someone tagged him in a post. Alves had just withdrawn from the Copenhagen card, and Nelson was in need of an opponent.

Sixteen days wasn’t much time to prepare, especially since Burns was in Canada to help a friend and had about one week to work.