Gilbert Burns opens up on fighting Colby Covington - "Too much drama for me"

Gilbert Burns is anxious to get back into the octagon but no longer believes Colby Covington is the right opponent for him to face. 'Durinho' previously targeted the former interim champion for a potential fight but now believes the process would be "too complicated."

Since his last fight with Jack Della Maddalena, Burns joined MMA Junkie for an interview released on YouTube on May 17. In the video, the Brazilian revealed where he feels he is at in his career. He believes he possesses elite talent but feels there are other matchups for him at welterweight aside from Covington.

Burns said:

"I like the fight [with Colby Covington]. I always wanted to make that fight, but it's just too complicated. Too much drama for me. We saw the whole drama with Ian Garry and I'm hearing Ian Garry is supposed to fight MVP [Michael Page] now... If [the UFC] offers that fight to me, I'll say yes, but I'm not chasing it because I know it's a lot of drama to get this guy to sign a deal."

Burns clarified in the interview that the "drama" he refers to only concerns Covington's lack of willingness to sign a contract and not the trash-talking gimmick of 'Chaos.'

Watch the full interview with Gilbert Burns from MMA Junkie on YouTube below:

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Gilbert Burns names potential opponents he would be interested in over Colby Covington

In the interview, Gilbert Burns named a few opponents he is more excited about facing than Colby Covington.

Burns continued:

"Right now I'm not in a place where I want to pick and choose [opponents]... I like [Joaquin] Buckley, I like Geoff Neal and I like Sean Brady a lot... I don't care, whoever the UFC sends to me. Usually, I just send a date, they send a name, I sign it — simple as that."

Burns previously called out Covington after his win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 287 but has since lost consecutive fights to Belal Muhammad and Della Maddalena.

The 37-year-old was most recently called out by Joaquin Buckley at the latter's UFC St. Louis post-fight presser. 'New Mansa' infamously called out Conor McGregor in the octagon but mentioned Burns backstage as a more realistic name he is interested in.