Gilbert Burns confirms fight against Tyron Woodley is official

Gilbert Burns vs Tyron Woodley becomes the official main event for the next UFC show, per Gilbert Burns' tweets.

UFC's next event might not have a location yet but it does have its main event, rising contender Gilbert Burns will take on former champion Tyron Woodley per Burns twitter handle. The announcement comes after weeks of speculation about the duo locking horns at the event. Burns even went on record a few weeks ago and said that Woodley was ducking him.

This will be Tyron Woodley's first fight since losing his title to Kamaru Usman back in March 2019. Woodley had a very strong run as a UFC champion, he defended the title four times and in his extended run went on a total of 6 fight winning streak. Woodley actually wanted to wait out for a fight against former challenger Colby Covington and was even in Colby's radar.

Will Gilbert Burns spoil Tyron Woodley's comeback?

Gilbert Burns enters the fight with a lot of momentum. He is on a 5-fight winning streak which dates back to 2018. He's also 8-2 in his last 10, which includes wins over the likes of former title challenger Demian Maia. It was Burns who tweeted the news out that the fight was official.

Bout agreement is signed! May 30th! Let’s go @ufc .Contrato assinado dia 30 de maio! Vamos com tudo @UFCBrasil pic.twitter.com/IGgQDVULN4

— GILBERT BURNS DURINHO (@GilbertDurinho) May 19, 2020

The fight is going to be an important one and will shape the way things run at the welterweight division. If Woodley manages to secure the win he gets to keep his relevance intact. He's been out of action for over a year now and needs to remind MMA fans what he's capable of.

However, if Burns wins the fight, the welterweight division gets a new contender. Gilbert Burns has been on the sidelines for a long time and hasn't had a breakthrough in the division. Untimely losses to lower ranked fighters has harmed his credentials. This is his chance to finally be taken seriously in the title picture.

There is also a very strong possiblity that the winner of this fight gets a crack at the welterweight title. Now that it is clear that Jorge Masvidal is not that interested in the welterweight title and is happy with the BMF belt, it opens up a window for newer challengers to take his space. The only other fighter apart from Gilbert Burns who actually has a credible winning streak is Leon Edwards, but even he doesn't have a name as big as Woodley on his record. He also has lost to Kamaru Usman. So there is a high probablity that the winner might get a direct shot at the belt.