Gilbert Burns has retracted his recent accusations against his opponent, Jorge Masvidal, regarding illegal greasing during their co-main event bout at Saturday’s UFC 287 in Miami.
In the post-fight press conference, Burns, who defeated Masvidal in a unanimous decision, claimed that Masvidal had put on lotion, hindering his grappling.
However, after Masvidal fired back at his comments, Burns apologized and clarified the situation on Twitter a few days later.
“I just would like to take a moment to apologize to Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal and his team at ATT on the things I said after the fight at the press-fight conference at UFC 287,” Burns said in a video posted on Twitter. “I said that he passed lotion and this and that, and it was too much. I can’t prove that, and I would like to apologize to send my apologies to Jorge and his team and take everything that I said.
“I hope that he accepts my apologies and I think what I did was wrong. I have no proof that he did that. I want to take nothing away from him. That guy is a warrior, with 52 professional fights. I hope that he has a good retirement and I hope he accepts my apology.”
Taking this moment to apologize to @GamebredFighter and his team @mikebrownmma @AmericanTopTeam pic.twitter.com/jNZva97ugO
— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) April 11, 2023
Masvidal, a native of Miami, announced his retirement from MMA after his loss to Burns, marking the end of his impressive 52-fight career. He had the opportunity to bid farewell to the sport in front of his home crowd.
Meanwhile, Burns had his sights set on becoming the backup for the highly anticipated welterweight title fight between Leon Edwards and Colby Covington, and if not needed, being next in line for the belt. His demands were swiftly accepted by UFC President Dana White on the night of UFC 287.
