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Gilbert Burns says move to 170 was a precaution: My doctor said ‘it wasn’t healthy’ staying at 155

Much like in his Octagon debut, Gilbert Burns is back to the welterweight division on short notice.

However, different than when he took a chance to replace an injured Viscardi Andrade against Andreas Stahl in 2014 in order to enter the UFC, ‘Durinho’ accepted a fight with Alexey Kunchenko on short notice at UFC Montevideo because he wants to preserve his health.

A late replacement for the injured Laureano Staropoli, Burns tells Combate that the lightweight division weight cut was becoming too straining for him, to the point of hindering his performance.

“It just clicked,” Burns said.