During a recent interview on Renato Carneiro’s YouTube channel, Burns was asked why he accepted a fight against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299"As a fan, that fight doesn't make any sense to me,” Carneiro said. “You are [No. 4 in the UFC rankings], and he is No. 11. So it´s a huge jump for him and you have almost no reward in case of win.”
Burns responded by explaining why he accepted the fight against Maddalena, who has been victorious in his first six UFC appearances.
“That was an offer from [matchmaker] Sean Shelby. I´m not a guy who turn down fights because of ranking,” Burns said. “My thing is I lost my last fight, and I need to get back in the win column.”
If Burns is able to emerge from UFC 299 with a clean bill of health, he would be interested in competing at UFC 301 in Rio de Janeiro on May 4.
“My goal is have a dominant performance, and if I don’t get hurt, [returning] to fight in my city would be excellent,” he said. “But of course that´s not my main goal right now. JDM is a tough guy and I´m 100% focused on him.”
Burns also discussed his thoughts on some of the other high-profile matchups on Saturday’s card, which takes place at the Kaseya Center in Miami. “Durinho” is especially interested in the heavyweight showdown between Jailton Almeida and Curtis Blaydes.
"There are a couple of great fights on this card like [Sean] O’Malley vs. [Marlon Vera]; [Dustin] Poirier vs [Benoit St.] Denis, but one of the most intriguing ones will be [Jailton Almeida vs. Curtis Blaydes].
“’Malhadinho’ can win, but he needs to grapple more than wrestle. He must look for the back not for takedowns -- just like Demian Maia did beating many wrestlers. That would be the best way for Almeida to win. I know a lot of guys who trained with him like Rodolfo Vieira, who said he is really tough on the ground. So he must use those tactics.”