Gilbert Burns’ Unparalleled Support System

Burns currently trains alongside elite UFC talent, including Michael Chandler and Vicente Luque, at Kill Cliff FC under head coach Henri Hooft. Burns met Hooft 12 years ago backstage at UFC 133 when “Durinho” was cornering Vitor Belfort. At the time, Burns was still living in Brazil, but when he eventually moved to Florida four years later, he reconnected with Hooft and has evolved under his guidance ever since.

“Henri’s had a big impact on my career since the beginning,” Burns said. “My first connection with Henri was my first UFC fight as a cornerman. My first experience with the UFC, I was a cornerman for Vitor Belfort. Vitor fought Yoshihiro Akiyama in [2011] when I was in his corner. The main event was Rashad Evans against Tito Ortiz, and Henri was in the back cornering Rashad and that was when I first saw that guy. [He was] big, teaching good, I kind of liked his style. A little bit after, we moved to Florida and started training with Henri and I shared a lot of great moments with Henri. We cornered [Beflort] many fights, Cezar Ferreira with Henri, I cornered Vicente Luque with Henri, my brother with Henri. We have a great relationship. He’s a mentor, a great friend. He’s a guy that’s been leading me to all of my victories. This guy’s a hard-working man, he works harder than me sometimes. He’s the one that I look at and admire like, ‘That guy works harder than me, I gotta step up my game.’”

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During his fight week interview with UFC.com, Burns recounted numerous times where Hooft showed up to training two hours early to go through his own workout and prepare gameplans for all his pupils. Rather than vocally instructing, Hooft even engages in sparring against Burns, which “Durinho” says helps him physically pick up on the lessons Hooft is trying to teach.

After a hard day’s work in the gym, Burns’ mixed martial arts lifestyle follows him back home, where his wife, Bruna, and brother, Herbert, are both professional combat sports athletes who understand what it takes to stay in elite shape year-round.

“My brother is the one that does a lot of strategy for me,” Burns said. “He helps me with training; he’s there when I’m sparring, he’s there daily helping with my grappling. He knows how my mind goes sometimes. Sometimes I have that hulk mentality where I want to go super hard and he’s the one that makes me think about it a little more, take a step back [and] make sure I do the right decision.”

“My wife is my number one support. She does everything for me. She’s the head coach. She’s like, “Oh, you’re training too much, you gotta slow down. I’m gonna call your coach, I’m gonna call the psychologist, I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do that.’ She runs everything. I don’t respond to no emails, nothing. She does everything for me. I think, too, we love each other, we have a great relationship, but because she’s fought before - she has one MMA amateur fight, two Muay Thai fights, four-time Brazilian national champion in jiu-jitsu - she knows what it takes. My number one person on this Earth knows what it takes, and she just supports me the most.”

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Bruna and Herbert, along with many other family members and friends, will be in attendance Saturday night for Burns’ co-main event bout against Masvidal. Throughout the buildup for this fight, Masvidal was vocal in expressing his disproval of Burns’ fighting style, specifically his wrestling.

Since moving up to welterweight in 2019, Burns has reached a new level physically, developing powerful hands while maintaining his world championship level jiu-jitsu. In an effort to please the crowd like teammate Michael Chandler, Burns might strike with Masvidal early, but won’t waste any time taking the fight to the mat if the opportunity presents itself.