UFC's Gilbert Burns Downplays NFLer's Issues About Brazil, 'It's Not That Loopy'

NFL gamers frightened about Friday night time's sport in Brazil can loosen up… as a result of Gilbert Burns, a UFC celebrity from Rio de Janeiro, tells TMZ Sports activities the athletes might be simply wonderful in his native nation.

The difficulty has change into fairly topical because the NFL introduced that the Eagles would face the Packers within the season opener in Sao Paulo, particularly after Philadelphia cornerback Darius Slay criticized league officers this week for scheduling the sport in a location that reportedly has a excessive crime fee.

However after we spoke to Burns about what the boys can count on once they lastly land in South America, he stated it gained't be “that loopy” in any respect.

He defined that, like many American cities, it has unhealthy neighborhoods, however general it’s “lovely.”

The truth is, he inspired the gamers to spend their free time visiting town.

“These guys — all of the soccer gamers — they give the impression of being a little bit bit like Brazilians,” stated the 38-year-old Brazilian fighter. “They're massive, they're robust. So that they're not going to have any issues there. They usually're going to have numerous enjoyable.”

In keeping with Slay — who finally retracted his feedback about Brazil in a put up on X on Wednesday — the NFL suggested gamers to stay of their inns in the course of the journey. However Burns says the UFC has despatched comparable memos when its athletes have fought in Brazil, and he stated those that ignored them haven’t any regrets.

As for the concept that sporting the colour inexperienced may trigger issues… Burns says he's by no means heard of such a factor.

“It's very lovely,” he stated.

Burns is combating Sean Brady this weekend in Nevada and he expects an excellent present. But when he wasn't within the Octagon, he'd be in São Paulo, he informed us.

“It's going to be massive,” he stated of the competitors. “It's going to be larger than folks suppose.”