Herbert Burns struggled mightily after he was unable to submit Bill Algeo with a triangle choke early in their featherweight bout at UFC on ABC 3.
While Burns’ difficulties initially appeared to be a product of fatigue, it turns out that a troublesome knee might be just as much to blame. Burns suffered a TKO loss to Algeo at the 1:50 mark of Round 2 in their featherweight bout on Saturday at UBS Arena in Elmont, N.Y., on Saturday when he was unable to return to his feet in a timely fashion after referee Keith Peterson ordered a standup.
Burns, who was coming off of ACL surgery, revealed in a post-fight statement that his knee gave out during the fight.
“I want to thank everyone for the support today,” said Burns, who was on crutches in the video. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t the result I was looking for. My knee gave out. It was not stable. I couldn’t continue fighting. I couldn’t finish the triangle. I couldn’t perform the way I wanted to, but I’ll be back.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen here. Another surgery? We will see. I’ll keep you guys updated, but I just want to let you guys know that I love you guys very much and you guys mean a lot to me.”
Burns, who earned a UFC contract with a first-round submission of Darrick Minner on Dana White’s Contender Series, kicked off his promotional tenure with back-to-back first-round finishes of Nate Landwehr and Evan Dunham. The Brazilian known as “The Blaze” has since dropped consecutive fights to Daniel Pineda and Bill Algeo in the Octagon.
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