Brazil’s Herbert Burns knows he must overcome Hiroshige Tanaka on Friday in Dubai if he wants to have any chance of competing for the ONE Fighting Championship’s (ONE FC) featherweight world title in the future.
The 26-year-old, who arrived in the UAE on Tuesday, is undefeated in his three bouts so far in ONE FC, quite impressive given that he only made his debut last December.
“The featherweight world championship is the goal for me,” said Burns. “I will have to win these type of bouts against Tanaka to have a shot at the title.
“Narantungalag Jadambaa and Koji Oishi will be fighting for that title on the same night, so hopefully I can have a shot at it soon.”
Burns, a No-GI World Champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitu, knows it won’t be easy against the Japanese, who will be making his ONE FC debut at the Dubai World Trade Centre (WTC) this Friday.
He said: “Tanaka is a tough fighter and very experienced. He’s a former Shooto and Zst fighter with a lot of experience in his homeland Japan.
“He’s a deadly striker, who has great strength in both hands and those abilities will mean he will be very quick on his feet.
The 26-year-old added: “He’s had six technical knockouts in his fighting career so far, so that tells you how tough a competitor he will be.
“But I’m prepared for him because I fought other fighters who have competed in martial art sports. He’s a good fighter but he certainly doesn’t scare me at all.
Burns, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and an instructor at Evolve Mixed Martial Arts in Singapore, played down suggestions that he is the favourite on the night.
“No, I don’t feel I’m the favourite. He has a lot of fighting experience than me. I’m on a winning streak and still undefeated in ONE FC, but he will be a hard fighter to beat,” added Burns.
Six of Tanaka’s victories have come in technical knock-outs, and Burns wants to take advantage of being labelled as one of the best grapplers in ONE FC.
Burns said: “I’m a grappler and that is one of my greatest strengths. I will be looking to bring him down and finishing him, but it all depends on how we fight on the night.”
Asked of whether his experience of being No-GI World Champion would be an advantage, he replied: “Yes, definitely. I have a very good team with me and I am very good with grappling, plus I am improving on my striking.”
With Burns admitting there is no one specific gameplan, the Brazilian hopes he can exhibit to the UAE fans at the WTC his finishing trademark move.
"If there’s an opportunity then I will finish with the triangle choke,” added Burns. “It’s my best move, so who knows whether I can use it. I hope I can.”
The action starts from 18:00 on Friday at the World Trade Centre.
