Gilbert Burns was last seen in action on the preliminary card of UFC 231, defeating Olivier Aubin-Mercier by unanimous decision.
The fighter already has plans for his next fight, which would be against John Makdessi this March at UFC Fight Night Philadelphia.
“He’s a good matchup,” Burns said to MMA Junkie Radio. “I’m not asking for an easy fights and boring matchups. It’s got to make sense for me and for the company. That guy, I think he’ll be an interesting matchup. I’m calling him out, nicely. But I might call him out pretty soon.”
Makdessi was also supposed to compete on the aforementioned UFC 231 card against Carlos Diego Ferreira, but withdrew from the bout due to injury.
Burns has one goal for 2019 and that is to pick up three wins inside of the Octagon.
“Hopefully, I can get three wins,” he said. “That’s the main goal for this year. And not just wins, but statement wins. That’s most important for me. The fans don’t like boring fights. I want domination, and if I’m not able to get the finish, like I was in my last fight, I want to perform with domination from the first minute to the last round.”
A week-plus after the challenge was issued, it would be accepted by Makdessi.
“That makes sense – why not?” Makdessi told MMA Junkie Radio. “Given he’s on a win streak, he’s a very dangerous opponent and this is a great matchup for the fans.”
UFC Fight Night Philadelphia takes place on Saturday, March 30 from the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with no main event announced at this time. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, which airs live on ESPN.
