Gilbert Burns slams "disrespectful" criticism of Sean Strickland's UFC 312 performance against Dricus du Plessis: "People have very short memories"

Gilbert Burns recently hit back at the criticism aimed at Sean Strickland for his showing in the UFC 312 clash with Dricus du Plessis. 'Tarzan' took on reigning middleweight champion du Plessis at UFC 312 last week but once again fell short on the judges' scorecards.

Strickland appeared out of sync against 'Stillknocks' and even suffered a broken nose in the fourth round. However, many, including his head coach Eric Nicksick, felt that he failed to show a sense of urgency during the bout and struggled to make the contest competitive.

During a recent episode of his Show Me The Money podcast, Burns dismissed the criticism surrounding Strickland’s strategy as unwarranted. 'Durinho' emphasized that the brash 33-year-old American has repeatedly backed up his words with his performances in the past:

"Maybe he wasn’t feeling good, whatever. We’re never going to know, right? But to say, 'Oh, he talks a lot, he doesn’t back it up,' I don’t like that. I think the guy backs it up many times... He backed it up against so many guys, right? Paulo Costa, [Israel] Adesanya, bro, he beat a lot of the best guys, and people are saying, 'Oh, he just talks, he doesn't do much.'"

Burns continued:

"I think that’s very disrespectful. People have very short memories... But it wasn’t long ago the guy was the champion, fighting everybody. He beat so many good guys, and people are now talking, ‘Oh, he talks a lot, he’s crazy,’ but I like it. And the guy backs it up, or he tries at least."

Check out Gilbert Burns' comments below (24:13):

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When Gilbert Burns shared that Sean Strickland warned him about a possible UFC 296 brawl with Dricus du Plessis

Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis had long been embroiled in a heated rivalry, which boiled over into a wild public brawl when they clashed at UFC 296 in December 2023—just a month ahead of their scheduled showdown at UFC 297.

Seated in close proximity at the T-Mobile Arena, tensions reached a breaking point as 'Tarzan' suddenly lunged over chairs, throwing punches at the South African before security swiftly stepped in to diffuse the mayhem.

During his December 2023 appearance on the JAXXON Podcast, Gilbert Burns, who was seated nearby with his family, revealed that Strickland had given him an early warning that a confrontation could be on the horizon:

"When Sean came, he kind of looked at the guy, I think he’s already like, 'Man, sh*t. You brought your wife and your kids?.' I said, 'Yes.' He said, 'Yeah, this frickin’ guy is right there. I might do stuff with this guy.' That was before the fight; when he walked in, he already had the thing in his head: ‘If I do something, I’ll give you the heads up.’ Whenever the thing started going down, this guy kind of looked at me and said, 'Now.'"

Check out Gilbert Burns' comments below: