Burns saw some hard times early in his career.
Burns recently recalled a heartbreaking phone call with his mother.
Burns couldn’t even pay his own rent when he suffered a bout of
bronchitis. “Durinho” called his mother, planning to ask her for
some money to buy medicines. Burns didn’t want to ask for money
right away and had a lengthy conversation with his mother. However,
it was Burns’ mother who ended up asking for his help instead.
Burns promised her that while he didn’t have any money then, he
would send some soon. The Brazilian remembers telling himself after
the incident that he didn’t have any choice other than becoming
successful in life.
I Have to Make It Happen
“My rent would be like $7-8 a month, that I didn’t have to pay. I
have guys helping out, paying my rent,” Burns said in a recent
interview (via Home of Fight). “That week I was having bronchitis,
I was gonna call my mom just to see if she had money for medicine
to help me out. When I called her, I talked to her for a long time.
I’m not gonna ask for money right away… When we started talking,
she asked if I had any money to send to her. And I told her, ‘I
don’t right now. But I’m gonna send it to you pretty soon.’… It
was very hard. I’m remember talking to myself and saying, ‘I’m
gonna make it happen. I gotta make it happen, I have to make it
happen.’ And I remember just going crazy in training.”
Burns (22-10) went on to have a stellar MMA career. Burns fought
the who’s who of the
UFC welterweight division in his tenure in the promotion,
spanning over more than a decade, even unsuccessfully challenging
former teammate Kamaru
Usman for the title in 2021. The 39-year-old finally hung up
his gloves last weekend following a stoppage loss against Mike Malott
at UFC
Winnipeg.
💔 Gilbert
Burns once called his mother to ask for money, but before he
got the chance, she asked if he had any to send:“I needed to pay rent, which was $7–8, and I had bronchitis. So I
called my mom to see if she had money for medicine to help me
out.When I called her, I… pic.twitter.com/V1CZmB35Yt
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight)
April 21, 2026