Velasquez and Durinho. Photo: Personal archives.
Brazil’s Gilbert “Durinho” Burns doesn’t quit. Following his winning the middleweight division at the No-Gi Worlds in an electrifying final with Tiago Alves, in a bracket that included the likes of Lucas Leite and Victor Estima, the Atos black belt is pursuing new adventures. The latest one put him face to face with Cain Velasquez, the current heavyweight champion of the UFC.
“I had some seminars scheduled here in Mexico City, at one of the Top Brother affiliates. I’ll stay here until November 28. I ended up teaching private lessons to Mario Delgado, a Renzo Gracie black belt. He invited me to Cain Velasquez’s seminar yesterday, Tuesday,” recounts Durinho.
“It was really productive, Cain is awesome! He has great wrestling, with lots of details, and I got to learn a lot. He showed be some cool single-leg and clinch moves, which he’s awesome at,” he comments.
Durinho didn’t just hop the number-one heavyweight in the UFC’s bandwagon recently. Still, it doesn’t keep him from stating his preference for Brazil’s Junior Cigano, when Velasquez defends his belt for the first time.
“It was funny, in the end. I was being interviewed by a local newspaper and they asked me how I feel the Cigano-Velasquez fight will end. They got kind of angry, but I root for Cigano (laughs)! It will be war because Cain is awesome, I got to see that up close,” he says.
“I was stoked to learn from him. I started paying attention to him after his fight with Cheik Kongo. I found him to be excellent. And then he beat Minotauro; there’s nothing left to say,” he says in closing.
Group gathered at academy of our GMA Mario Delgado. Photo: Personal archives.