Not surprisingly for someone hailing from the land that gave the world jiu-jitsu, that ever-popular martial art has been in the blood of Brazil’s Herbert Burns since his childhood.
“I stated training jiu-jitsu since I was 10 years old,” said Burns, part of the One Fighting Championship (FC) card at Friday’s Reign of Champions, which is taking place at the World Trade Centre in Dubai.
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“And since then, I’ve never stopped. Things were good from the start.”
Burns was thrown in the deep end in competitive fighting almost immediately.
He had his first fight one month after he started to compete, a mixed competition for yellow and white belts. He finished second.
“A month after that, I was at the national championship,” he said. “I’ve been competing ever since.”
Last year, he signed with One FC in Singapore, and is part of a world-class stable at Evolve Fight Team, a mixed-martial arts (MMA) outfit.
Burns, 26, has two MMA fights under his belt: he made a successful debut by submitting Edward Kelly last December in Manila, and he followed with a unanimous decision over Harris Sarmiento earlier this year in Kuala Lumpur.
In preparation for his fight in Dubai, Burns has been refining several martial arts disciplines with his team of trainers and fighters at Evolve, which has meant improving his stand-up techniques.
Burns does not hesitate, however, when asked about his main weapon.
“I’m a grappler,” is all he says on the subject, a sign of the confidence he has in his ability.
He is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and No-Gi Grappling world champion, so it is no secret that his strengths lie in the submission of his opponents.
On Friday night, Burns will face arguably his toughest test.
His opponent is the Japanese featherweight Hiroshige Tanaka, who is 11-1 and renowned as a formidable wrestler with a strong left hook.
Burns says getting in the cage with Tanaka holds no fear for him. Nor is he willing to tailor his fighting style to any particular opponent, preferring to think about what he is doing, versus what his foe is doing.
“All the opponents you fight are good,” he said. “But I always concentrate on my own fighting and my strengths.”
The switch from Brazil to Singapore has been an eye-opening one for Burns.
“In Brazil, I fought in front of small crowds,” Burns said. “In my first [Singapore] fight, it was very different, there was a huge crowd. And in my second fight, in Kuala Lumpur, there were 20,000 people watching.”
Burns is well aware that jiu-jitsu is popular in the UAE, and that MMA is one of the fastest-growing spectator sports in the region. Another night of action awaits the Brazilian, and he is excited by the chance to compete in the UAE.
“I expect the atmosphere here to be the same as in Asia,” he said. “There will be maybe 5,000 people there on Friday, and I really expect them to be very loud.”
Main event – Lightweight World Championship Kamal Shaorus (Iran) v Shinya Aoki (Japan)
Co-Main event – Welterweight World Championship Ben Askren (USA) v Nobutatsu Suzuki (Japan)
Co-Main event – Featherweight World Championship Narantungalag Jadambaa (Mongolia) v Koji Oishi (Japan)
Lightweight Christian Holley (UK) v Roger Huerta (USA)
Light heavyweight Christiano Kaminshi (Brazil) v James McSweeney (UK)
Featherweight Hiroshige Tanaka (Japan) v Herbert Burns (Brazil)
Catchweight Vaughn Donayre (Philippines) v Mohamad Walid (Syria)
Flyweight Ali Yaakub (Malaysia) v Dejdamrong Sor Amnuaysirichoke (Thailand)
Flyweight Ann Osman (Malaysia) v Ana Julaton (Philippines)
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