Colby Covington & Jorge Masvidal React to News Gilbert Burns is Off UFC 251

As this is being written, it’s not known whether Kamaru Usman is still going to fight at UFC 251, following the news that Gilbert Burns has been forced out. But, based off tweets Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington have made, it looks like both men are willing to step-up and face the welterweight champ.

Covington is expecting a call…

Burns was scheduled to fight Usman at the July 11th event, but recently ‘Durinho’ confirmed he’s no longer fighting at the event, after testing positive for COVID-19.

Not long after news of Burns’s withdrawal broke, Covington tweeted out this.

“You know who they’re gonna call Marty and it ain’t the Ghostbusters Junior!”

The fact Covington shared this out shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ever since his stoppage loss to Usman last December, ‘Chaos’ has been pushing for a rematch.

Masvidal reminds people of why he’s nicknamed ‘Gamebred’

Covington wasn’t the only welterweight contender to respond to the news of Burns’s removal. Masvidal, Colby’s former friend turned rival, also shared out a reminder of why he’s nicknamed ‘Gamebred’.

It will be really interesting to see whether the UFC calls either Colby or Jorge as short notice replacement. For sometime, the UFC’s plan was to have Masvidal fight Usman next.

But, due to Masvidal’s contractual battle with the UFC, Burns was eventually booked for UFC 251 instead.

Since UFC 251 is still set to feature two other title fights – Alexander Volkanovski versus Max Holloway II and Jose Aldo versus Petr Yan, it’s also possible the promotion will just move ahead with the current line-up.

Negotiations for a short-notice replacement could fail, and it’s also possible that ultimately, the teams of Masvidal or Covington determine facing Usman with no camp, isn’t the way to go.

Next Saturday’s card is scheduled to take place at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.