"It's getting worse" - Gilbert Burns says he has been nervous before fights since Kamaru Usman bout, admits talking to a psychologist

UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns has opened up about the pre-fight anxiety he developed after fighting Kamaru Usman.

Following his instant classic bout against Khamzat Chimaev, Burns has been vocal about how nervous he was heading into the fight. During an interview with ESPN MMA, Brett Okamoto pointed out that Burns' tense demeanor was indeed noticeable.

The Brazilian then revealed that he has developed pre-fight jitters ever since his title clash with former teammate Kamaru Usman at UFC 258. According to 'Durinho':

"It's getting worse, you know. I have a psychologist that I talk to her. To be honest, the fight with Kamaru [Usman] changed that. The fight with Kamaru, I remember the last training we had before that – I lost a couple of trainings, I won a couple of trainings – but the last one where we trained hard, it was at my garage at my house and I did very good, especially in the grappling scenario. I got a couple of submissions in, that kind of boosted my confidence so much that it passed the level where it's over. I was overconfident."

Catch Gilbert Burns' comments below:

Burns came close to dethroning 'The Nigerian Nightmare' during their fight, landing a big right hand that dropped the champion early on. However, the Brazilian was humbled by Kamaru Usman, who survived the early onslaught to put him away in round three.

---

Gilbert Burns wanted to changes things up after losing to Kamaru Usman

After failing to capture the title with an "overconfident" attitude, Gilbert Burns revealed that he took things to the opposite end of the spectrum.

Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, Burns said he wanted to be nervous in the lead-up to his fight against Stephen 'Wonderboy' Thompson at UFC 264. He continued:

"I went back, the next fight was 'Wonderboy' [Stephen Thompson]. In the 'Wonderboy' fight, I was so nervous because I wanted the opposite of the feeling going into the Kamaru fight. I wanted to be nervous. ... I was just like, 'Okay that's how I'm supposed to feel, everything went good, I won, I want to be like that again.' I need to have that little bit of fear in me. I need to know that I'm getting into a fight and not completely be confident."

His change of perspective appeared to have worked for Burns as went on to dominate Thompson in their fight. However, he admitted that his anxiety has only gotten worse since then.