In Conversation with Gilbert Burns: On Defeats and the Importance of Good Mentors

Hi Gilbert! What have you been up to lately?

I’ve been focusing on recovering my left shoulder from my last fight. Usually we will do three fights over a year, but this time I did it in five months — January, April and May — which was a very short time. I got an injury right at the start when I landed on my shoulder, so now I’m making sure I get it good and strong again before I return to training. Other than that, I’ve also been spending a lot of time with the family, and travelling for UFC Barcelona, UFC Singapore, and UFC Australia next.

Tell us how you first got involved with martial sports.

Back in Rio when I was 12, my brothers and I used to help out at my dad’s shop where he fixes up car seating and interiors. One of his clients was a jujitsu professor; he had a gi inside his car, and we were playing around with it. So my dad decided that instead of getting paid, he would trade his services for training lessons for us. That’s how we started training in jiu-jitsu, and we never stopped.

What keeps you going back to the sport even until now?

I enjoy it because it’s humbling, it keeps me disciplined, and I’ve still got a lot to learn. Facing real competition is a challenge, so you have to keep testing yourself and improve in order to compete.

What’s the story behind your nickname “Durinho”?

It means “little tough one”. That’s because my older brother was very tough, so I’m “little tough”!

What’s the first thing that goes through your mind whenever you step into the UFC Octagon?

Every time I step into the Octagon, I want to make sure that I did everything in my power to be ready. With that mentality, every time I sign a fight, it’s also a contract with myself to work hard to win. Nutrition, training, recovery, studying the opponent — there’re so many things I’ve got to do to prepare for the fight. So when I’m in the Octagon and I remind myself that I followed all these steps, I’m comfortable going into the fight.

It’s easy to celebrate victories, but how do you deal with defeats?

Defeat is part of life and competition. Every time I lose, I need to learn a lesson, to understand why I lost. It could’ve been my ego, or I could’ve made a bad decision, or the strategy wasn’t the best. So the first thing I do is rewatch the fight and try to identify what went wrong. A lot of guys say “don’t worry just more forward to the next fight”, but I like to review my performance, even when I win. That’s how I keep getting better.

In your opinion, what makes a good professional fighter?

A good fighter fights clean and fair, because you have a lot of dirty fighters out there. And a good fighter has a purpose; they fight for something, whether it’s their family or country.

What’s a good starting point for those looking to get into combat sports?

First you’ve got to look for a good academy, to see who’s the coach and what’s his background. I was fortunate to have a great coach who always led the way and set a good example, who created a good training environment with a healthy, family-oriented atmosphere. Someone you can look up to and learn from — that’s the first step to any martial arts journey.