Gilbert Burns has become the No.1 contender for the UFC Welterweight Title

UFC legend Chael Sonnen backed Gilbert Burns to face UFC Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, for the title.

Burns was in exceptional form as he dominated former champion, Tyron Woodley, recently. The Brazilian then called out Usman for a title shot, despite the Welterweight division being stacked with quality.

Jorge Masvidal was to fight Usman for the title and Conor McGregor has also been linked with the championship fight.

However, Sonnen believed that only two men could fight for this title and it was Burns who deserved the shot soon:

“I think Gilbert Burns is right for the taking right now.

“I think that the argument is pretty simple if the fact that Leon [Edwards] is stuck in England. If you take Leon off the board, it opens the players up very well. To two that are clear for me, which are Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington.”

Sonnen added that he didn’t know why Covington wasn’t in the title shot and might have something else in the running.

The legend added that the champion has to fight in July. Sonnen also claimed that Burns did a lot of great things in beating Woodley:

“This is a major come-from-behind story. Even though Gilbert’s been incredible, people not knowing he was incredible.

“Guy was down a division, a whole weight class not that long ago fighting on undercards, jerking the curtains to a main event.”

No Masvidal in the scene

Sonnen also spoke about Jorge Masvidal not being in the race anymore after being linked with a rematch against Nate Diaz.

Masvidal and Usman almost came to blows prior to the Super Bowl, however, it will be interesting to see what Gamebred has in store next.

Sonnen backed a July fight for Usman and Burns, and hopefully, the UFC can set it up real quick. Usman vs Masvidal was also set to be in that same time frame. However, things have changed dramatically after Burns’ demolition job on Woodley.

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