Gilbert Burns’s Wrestling Debut: A BJJ Takedown Lesson

Here's a matchup that puts a spotlight on the most underrated part of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu: the fight to get the fight to the ground. Gilbert Burns — an ADCC-level BJJ black belt and one of the most respected grapplers to come through the UFC — is set to make his pure wrestling debut at RAF 13, facing Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event. It's a fascinating test, and for the everyday practitioner it's a timely reminder that no ground game means much until you've won the exchange on the feet.

A black belt stepping onto new ground

Make no mistake about Burns's pedigree. This is a decorated Jiu Jitsu competitor with a world-class submission game, a man who spent his UFC career hunting the back and finishing fights on the mat. As recently as UFC BJJ 9 he submitted Horlando Monteiro with a rear naked choke — at 40 years old. His grappling credentials are beyond question. You can see the announcement on Instagram.

What makes this bout interesting is that he's deliberately walking into the one area that isn't his specialty. Chimaev is a former top freestyle wrestler in Sweden, undefeated on the RAF mats, having beaten fellow MMA names by fall. On paper he holds the clear wrestling edge. Burns, by contrast, has never had a high-profile pure wrestling match. He's choosing to test himself in an unfamiliar phase of grappling against a specialist — and there's something admirable in a 40-year-old black belt still hunting brand-new challenges rather than coasting on what he already does well.

Why wrestling is the missing half of many BJJ games

For a lot of us who train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, this story lands close to home, because wrestling is the hole in far too many otherwise good games. We spend years perfecting guard, sweeps, passing and submissions, and comparatively little time on the takedown battle that decides who gets to play their game in the first place. Show up to a competition or a hard round with a strong wrestler and you learn the lesson fast: if you can't dictate whether the fight stays standing or hits the floor, your beautiful bottom game may never get to come out to play.

Burns himself is proof that the standing phase matters even for submission artists. Across his career he was known for strong grappling on the feet and took down plenty of top opponents. The two men have history, too — they met at UFC 273 in 2022, a bout Chimaev won but, notably, the only fight at that point in his career to go the distance. Burns couldn't land his takedowns that night, but he also denied Chimaev the lengthy control the wrestler usually enjoys, holding him to just over two minutes of control time across three rounds. Even in defeat, Burns's grappling made a specialist work.

The lesson for your own training

You don't need a promotional contract to take something from this. If your Jiu Jitsu stops at the point where the action leaves the mat, you've got the same gap Burns is deliberately addressing. The fix isn't glamorous, but it's simple: spend real time on the standing game. Drill your takedown entries. Learn to fight for grips and underhooks. Practise your sprawl and your get-ups. Get comfortable in the scramble, where wrestling and Jiu Jitsu blur into one.

The good news is that a BJJ base makes you dangerous the moment a takedown hits the ground — which is exactly the edge Burns carries into this wrestling match. A pure wrestler wins the takedown and then has to survive on the mat; a grappler with Burns's submission game only needs one opening. That interplay is the whole art. The more complete your standing skills, the more often you get to use the ground skills you've worked so hard to build.

Respect the whole game

Age is part of this story too. At 40, facing a 32-year-old in his athletic prime and on his home turf of wrestling, Burns is the underdog by most measures. But he's spent a lifetime proving that skill, timing and grit close gaps that raw attributes open. Win or lose, a veteran black belt volunteering for a specialist's test is exactly the kind of competitor the grappling world should celebrate.

So use it as a nudge. Next time you're at open mat, start a few rounds from standing instead of your knees. Jiu Jitsu is a complete grappling art — feet included — and the practitioners who honour the whole of it are the ones who are still improving decades in. See you on the mats.

Original report via BJJEE.