UFC welterweight Gilbert Burns has said he doesn’t care where he ends up in the rankings after losing to Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273.

On Saturday night, Gilbert Burns brought his A-game in what proved to be a Fight of the Year contender against Khamzat Chimaev. The popular opinion heading in was that this would easily be Chimaev’s toughest fight to date but even with that being the case, many were still surprised by the performance Burns produced.

The Brazilian sensation took Khamzat to the limit and came close to getting a finish at the end of the second round. Alas, he wound up losing on the judges’ scorecards, but this is as close to a moral victory as you can get - especially in such a competitive weight class.

One of the biggest compliments being paid to Gilbert, outside of his actual fighting ability, is about his willingness to take on such a mammoth challenge.

Very few fighters at welterweight and middleweight wanted to face ‘Borz’ given his growing reputation as the next big thing. After facing and almost conquering the Chechen star, Burns took to social media and gave his thoughts on the imminent rankings update from the UFC.

“Where I’m landing in the rankings tomorrow? To be honest I don’t care. Just wants to see if they will courage the guys to do that, or if they will do opposite.

“Happy Monday! Fight against the odds and make your mark! They at least will respect you! Do it today!”

The next step for Gilbert Burns

Down the road it wouldn’t be unthinkable for Burns to take on Chimaev again but at the age of 35, he’s definitely fighting against the clock.

Some have suggested he could meet the loser, or maybe even winner, of this weekend’s Vicente Luque vs Belal Muhammad rematch.

If that doesn’t come to fruition then there are plenty of other fighters in the top 15 who he could test himself against, with arguably the most intriguing being Jorge Masvidal.

Chimaev, meanwhile, appears to be gearing up for a meeting with Colby Covington as he closes in on a title shot.