By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
It was one of those best-friends-turned-competitors situations in the UFC.
Former pals and sparring partners, UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman had an unexpected challenger when Gilbert Burns announced he would like to challenge his friend for welterweight supremacy.
As soon as the bell rang, underdog Burns put on a show, dropping Usman to the ground with a vicious overhead punch.
However, the champion recovered quickly in the second round and retaliated with his own knockdown score and bullied Burns throughout the round with his heavy leg kicks.
Twenty-five seconds into the third round, Usman landed a quick jab to drop Burns into the canvass.
Usman then followed it up with well-timed barrage of ground and pound punches that forced referee Herb Dean to jump in between and call the match.
The victory for Usman handed him the UFC record for most consecutive wins in welterweight history with 13 surpassing the legendary Georges St. Pierre.
“I’m the varsity guy. My fight IQ is different. It’s different when you’re in the gym with me, and when you get in the cage, it’s a different ballgame. I’m a whole ’nother savage,” Usman said.
