Tomorrow night on the main card of UFC 283, we are going to see a battle between two top 12 welterweight contenders. Former title challenger Gilbert Burns (20-5) will be returning tomorrow night as he takes on “The Haitian Sensation” Neil Magny (27-9).
This will be Burns’ first fight since he lost to Khamzat Chimaev last April. To date, Burns is the only man who has made Chimaev look human. They had a war at UFC 273 and it was a very close decision loss for Durinho. Prior to that, he had a decision win over Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Since jumping up to welterweight after struggling at 155, Burns has gone 7-2 with his lone losses coming against Chimaev and former champion Kamaru Usman. Because of his success and his elite skills, many are expecting an easy fight for him tomorrow night.
However, if you know anything about Neil Magny, you should know that he’s not an easy fight for anyone. Since returning from suspension in 2020, Magny has gone 6-2 inside the octagon with the two losses coming against Michael Chiesa and the sensational Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Neil Magny is always looking to take on the very best the UFC has to offer. Included in those six wins are wins over the likes of Geoff Neal, Robbie Lawler, and Li Jingliang. He’s coming off a submission win over Daniel Rodriguez back in November.
UFC 283 Prediction
As you can probably tell, I’m expecting this fight to be a lot more competitive than some people think. Burns is going to have the advantages in explosion, speed, and grappling. Durinho is one of the best jiu jitsu practitioners in the entire sport.
Neil Magny is just a dog. He’s very long for the weight class, fights with a ton of forward pressure and is not going to be intimidated by Burns or the crowd. I think he’s going to try and work this fight against the fence and try to use his long limbs to land some heavy clinch shots.
I also think he’s going to try and be crafty and catch Burns coming in. Will he have enough to defeat Burns in front of the Brazilian fans at UFC 283? Ultimately, I don’t think so. I still believe that Burns is one of the very best in the world and Magny is a step behind that.
It’s going to be competitive, but the bigger shots are going to come from Burns. I actually see a submission in this fight. In the third round, the fight will end up on the ground and I see Durinho catching a late submission to secure the victory.
Prediction: Gilbert Burns by Submission – Round 3