Muhammad vs Burns

Who won Muhammad vs Burns?

Belal Muhammad beat Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the co-main event of UFC 288, on Saturday 6th May 2023 at Prudential Center in Newark.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Belal Muhammad.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

Muhammad vs Burns stats

Belal Muhammad stepped into the octagon with a record of 22 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 5 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 1 by submission.

Gilbert Burns made his way to the cage with a record of 22 wins, 5 losses and 0 draws, 6 of those wins coming by knock out and 9 by submission.

Belal Muhammad's UFC record stood at 14-3-0, while Gilbert Burns' came in at 15-7-0.

The stats suggested Burns had a slight advantage in power over Muhammad, with a 27% knock out percentage over Muhammad's 23%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Burns had a massive advantage over Muhammad, boasting a 41% submission rate over Muhammad's 5%.

Belal Muhammad was the younger man by 2 years, at 36 years old.

Muhammad had a height advantage of 1 inch over Burns. Despite this, both fighters had a equal reach.

Muhammad's experience as a professional fighter was relatively equal to Burns', having had 2 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2012, 6 months later than Burns, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 15 more professional rounds, 79 to Burns' 64.

Muhammad vs Burns form

Muhammad had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges 3 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Sean Brady at UFC 280 on 22nd October 2022 by knockout in the 2nd round at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Previous to that, he had beaten Vicente Luque at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs. Muhammad 2 on 16th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Stephen Thompson at UFC Fight Night on 18th December 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest.

Before that, he was victorious against Demian Maia at UFC 263 on 12th June 2021 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Gila River Arena, Glendale, United States.

His fight against Leon Edwards at UFC Vegas 21 on 13th March 2021 ended in a no contest.

Activity check

Muhammad's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 4 months and 11 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 2 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 15 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Muhammad vs Burns?

Belal Muhammad was a 5/4 (+130) underdog going into the contest, while Gilbert Burns made his way into the ring at 67/100 (-150) with oddsmakers.