Gilbert Burns had 3-fight retirement plan, but ‘if I cannot beat Mike Malott … I shouldn’t be doing this’

Burns promises he has nothing but respect for Malott and his team but he used that fight as a gauge to figure out where he fit in the larger hierarchy at 170 pounds. Losing to an unranked opponent was the sign Burns needed to move on to the next stage of his life and put fighting behind him.

“The Mike Malott fight for me was clear. I’m not at that level no more,” Burns said. “That’s freaking life. It is what it is. It hurts a little bit but you’ve got to man up. I’ve got to make the best decision for me and for my family. I could do one more. Yes but why? I don’t have to. So I want to move on and I want to get the next chapter of my career.”

Post-fight retirements aren’t uncommon in the UFC, but Burns didn’t have any grand elaborate plans to make that call heading into the fight.

Burns actually had a callout ready to go if he beat Malott and he mapped out what he expected to serve as the final three-fight plan that would lead to him calling it a career.

“I believed I was going to win,” Burns said. “I think Mike Malott is a great fighter but I do believe I was going to win and I have everything it takes to win. If I was winning, I was going to call out Colby [Covington] for International Fight Week. I had a whole plan.

“With a win, if I go out there and I beat this guy and I do a big callout for International Fight Week, then it makes sense. Then I think the UFC would give the Colby fight to me. Then after the Colby fight, then maybe the last one I do a retirement fight in Brazil. That was my plan. If everything went my way, it would be Colby Covington on International Fight Week and then it would be Daniel Rodriguez or Kevin Holland or Leon Edwards, retirement fight in Brazil. That’s what was going through my mind. That’s why I said three more fights, that was the way I thinking. But in the back of my head I was thinking if I can’t beat Mike Malott, if I lose, if I got finished, I’m done.”

As tough as it was ending his career on a five-fight losing streak, Burns didn’t want to keep going in hopes of chasing a win.

That mindset has doomed many veteran fighters and legends of the sport, which is something Burns didn’t want for himself or his family. So he decided enough was enough and laid his gloves down in the center of the octagon and he’s resolved in his decision to retire from the sport.

“Like B.J. Penn, I’m a huge fan, I was always a fan but I don’t think he finished the way he should,” Burns said. “He [lost] a couple fights and it’s like why does B.J. keep doing that? Vitor Belfort, the last couple of fights it wasn’t the best fights. Why do you keep doing that? Even Anderson Silva, other great fighters, I’m not calling you guys out, I’m just saying you should be more careful the way you finish your career.

“I have a five [fight] losing streak already. I’m done. At least I fought the best of the best. I’m done. If I feel like I cannot beat this guy, I’m done. I was at peace. It was still an emotional moment but it was the right decision.”