Gilbert Burns advises Kamaru Usman to follow a similar game plan against Joaquin Buckley as their Kill Cliff FC teammate.

Former UFC welterweight champion Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) will look to snap a three-fight losing skid when he takes on Buckley (21-6 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in Saturday's UFC on ESPN 69 (ESPN, ESPN+) main event at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

Buckley is unbeaten since dropping back down to welterweight in May 2023. The last time Buckley lost at 170 pounds was against Logan Storley in April 2018, which led to his move up to middleweight. Burns advises Usman to use a heavy grapple approach just like Storley did when he stifled Buckley on the ground.

"I want Kamaru to win," Burns said on his "Show Me The Money" podcast. "The guy was at the gym – he was looking very good. At the gym, we had one of the guys that smashed Buckley back in the day. It was a long time ago at Bellator. Logan Storley just outwrestled him, ground-and-pounded him. It shows Kamaru the way. I think Kamaru has to mix it up. I think he was the best at the time when he was mixing it up. Not just striking. I kind of called that he was going to lose to Leon (Edwards).

"At that time, he wasn't wrestling anymore. He just stood up with Leon, and I knew it was going to be hard. Whenever he mixes it up – sometimes he'll wrestle not just to wrestle, (but) wrestle just to make this guy think about it and then strike better, get loose. Take this guy down, make this guy tired. Buckley is very muscular, very strong. If Buckley starts putting pressure, Buckley is very, very dangerous. I think the way for Kamaru is to put pressure. I hope he wins, and I think he can."

Burns fought Usman for the welterweight title in February 2021 in what was an emotional fight between teammates. After stunning Usman in Round 1, Burns was ultimately finished by TKO in Round 3 at UFC 258.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Gilbert Burns: Logan Storley showed blueprint to beat Joaquin Buckley

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