Gilbert Burns wants to fight one last title fight before retiring: “I don’t know how many fights I have left in me”

Gilbert Burns is still considered one of the best welterweights in the UFC and faces Sean Brady in Saturday's main event, but he's also smart enough to know that a fight can't last forever.

After celebrating his 38th birthday in July, the former UFC title challenger admitted that the sand in his hourglass will eventually run out, so he's fully focused on earning himself another shot at gold before it's all over. Taking a cue from teammate Michael Chandler's strategy, Burns is looking to make an impression in his next few fights before retiring.

“I'm not getting any younger,” Burns told MMA Fighting. “I just turned 38. I feel great. Especially training with all those monsters at Kill Cliff FC, I feel great. I have to compete with these younger, hungry guys every day. But the window is closing. It's not open anymore.”

“I think I'm not here for a long time, I'm here to have a good time. Saturday, September 7th, will be a good fight. I'm looking forward to it.”

Burns doesn't put a number on the number of fights he has left before he retires, nor does he say he plans to retire by a certain age. But the Brazilian veteran also can't ignore the reality of his situation – he's been an active participant in grappling and MMA for more than 20 years, and that experience counts for anyone.

“I don't know how many fights I have left in me,” Burns said. “Because even before I started MMA, I did jiu-jitsu for a while. I've been competing a lot since I was 15 or 16. So it was very difficult to keep up with the little injuries, the little things that were happening before. [putting ice on it] and a [physical therapy session] and it was gone. Now it takes a little longer. It takes a whole week to get over a small injury and get better again. I train and persevere, but it's not easy.

“I spend a lot of money on a cold bath, sauna, physical therapy… that's what I do all day. I train, I do a podcast once a week and other than that, recovery, training, recovery, massages, stretches, this and that, mobility, hyperbaric chamber, ice, sauna. That's my life. I've got a few fights left in me, but not very many fights. Again, I'm here to beat this guy, beat another guy, get my title shot and get the title. You guys enjoy it while I'm here because I'm not here for a long time.”

There is an old saying in MMA that fighters must retire from the sport before the sport retires them.

Burns has this philosophy because he doesn't want to stay too long and suffer losses that turn him from a top contender into a cautionary tale for the next generation of athletes.

He looks at the current situation of former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who was once considered the biggest threat to Khabib Nurmagomedov but now has eight consecutive losses under his belt and his UFC career is likely over. Despite the difficulties he's had recently, Ferguson remains committed to fighting whether he's in the UFC or not.

“I will not get into that situation,” Burns promised. “I saw the Matt Brown thing [about Ferguson] and I agree with him. I believe that this is a psychological problem that many fighters have. We have seen many fighters, even my buddy Dustin Poirier [saying]”I need a date! I need a date!” Brother, you don't need a date.

“You don't have to fight. You want to fight. There's a difference. There's a difference when you have to fight and when you want to fight.”

Brown addressed Ferguson’s refusal to retire on a recent episode of MMA Fighting. The Fighter vs. The Writer and attributed it to the same reason why most athletes have such a hard time quitting the sport. It's about chasing the euphoric high that accompanies competing in the UFC, because that's the kind of rush that nothing else can ever replicate.

Burns understands how that feels, but he refuses to let the thrill of fighting damage his long-term health just because he doesn't want to give up.

“I like when Matt Brown says we're chasing that adrenaline rush with the win, making the guy stop and raise his arm and all that. We like that,” Burns said. “But we can't get caught up in it, and I think I learned those lessons when I had those three fights in five months, when I fought Neil Magny in Brazil and won, and then I fought [Jorge] Masvidal in April and a few weeks after I tried to fight Belal [Muhammad]and that was my mental health, which I think was a little bit of an issue. I beat Masvidal, not the way I wanted to, and then I needed another one. I have to [feel] that again.

“Then when I got a fight with Belal, I felt like I wasn't at my best. I wasn't at my peak. I was only at my peak twice in a row. I wasn't at my peak. When I got there, I got injured. That made me think a lot and work on my psychology. I wanted to have that adrenaline. It's not that I wanted to win. I just talked to myself, to my coaches, all convinced that I wanted to fight, but in that moment I wanted to have that feeling again. It's like a kind of addiction.”

As he prepares to fight Brady this weekend, Burns is confident he can deliver a dominant finish and set himself up for an even bigger fight that could put him back in title contention in the near future.

But Burns knows that at some point he will have to make the decision to end his career, and whether he likes it or not, that will happen sooner rather than later.

“I don't have 10 fights left in me,” Burns said. “Maybe I have five more, maybe a couple more fights, and I want to go in peace, like Robbie Lawler. We talked a lot and he said, 'Go in peace.' If you don't want to compete much in training, if you slow down, then that's the way it is. I'm not putting a date on it, I'm not putting a number of fights on it, but I'm going to try to go about it the smart way.

“I’m going out there and beating Sean Brady, it’s got to be a big fight [next]. It has to be a fight for the No. 1 title. If I have to wait, OK. If I have to wait a bit for Shavkat [Rakhmonov] and these guys are next, so give me Kamaru [Usman]give me Colby [Covington]give me, whoever is there, Leon [Edwards]and after that I want a title fight. That is my goal.”