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By Jim Edwards



Having strung five consecutive wins since his ONE debut in 2013, Herbert Burns has taken the ONE Championship featherweight division by storm.



His nickname, "The Blaze", was given to him by his training partners who saw him run through his opponents in double quick time using his outstanding BJJ and speed to finish fights quickly and ruthlessly.



Unfortunately for Burns, the last nine months have been a frustrating period having been on the sidelines since defeating Timofey Nastyukhin at ONE Championship: Odyssey of Champions all the way back in September of the last year. Nevertheless, Burns has battled back to full health, and has his sights set on the current ONE featherweight champion.



"I’ve been very happy with my performances so far and it has been a lot of hard work getting there," Burns said. "The most satisfying thing about it all is to see that I'm on the right path and the good results just motivate me more and more to keep improving and hopefully soon win a world title in MMA. I’ve been ready to fight since November last year, pushing to get a fight and a title shot and my manager had been in touch with ONE a lot. I hope that soon I will be back in action because I want to fight and be active.



"I am definitely the only man in the division with merits for a shot at the title. In the ONE I have a five fight win streak against top contenders and former champions; I'm the only one who deserves to get the next shot at the featherweight belt."



Undefeated Russian Marat Gafurov is currently the undisputed ONE Championship featherweight titleholder having unified the belt back in 2015 when he defeated Narantungalag Jadambaa.



In China this weekend, Jadambaa faces on Eric Kelly in the main event of ONE: Dynasty Of Champions (Hefei) in what many believe is a number one contender fight for Gafurov's featherweight belt. Burns is none too happy he won't be involved in the scrap.



"I was never offered this fight; if I was I would have accepted for sure," Burns said. I would fight any of them, I don’t like to pick my opponents, I fight whoever is in my way. For me, this isn't a fight that's worthy of being a number one contender fight at all. Jadambaa is a former champion and put a good win over Boku, but now he is fighting Kelly who is coming off a loss to Ev Ting. If Jadambaa beats Kelly, then he is only beating a guy coming off a loss, so that for me isn't enough to warrant a title shot.



"It's the same if it happens the other way round. If Kelly wins, then he will only have only one victory in a row and that for sure isn't enough for a title shot; like I said I've got five wins in a row it should be me."



If Burns eventually gets his way and faces Gafurov for the 145-pound title, he's 100% confident that he will hand the Russian his first ever professional defeat. While respectful of his skills, Burns believes that Gafurov has been ducking him but thinks it will be only a matter of time before the Russian will have to face the music.



"He is a tough dude, with strong wrestling and a good ground game," Burns said. "I am certain I am the man to beat him though and I see myself much better than him in all areas. I’m a much more complete mixed martial artist and I would be the worse stylistic matchup for him possible. He knows that, and that is why he has never accepted any of my previously challenges.



"He can run but he can’t hide. I believe that I can be the best in the world and I believe that I am the best fighter in ONE's featherweight division. My ambition is to become a world champion and I know I will achieve it."



A constant source of inspiration for Herbert is his elder brother Gilbert who currently fights in the UFC. Having a brother that is a three time BJJ world champion is something Herbert is extremely proud of and they are now training together at Blackzilians.



"I decided to finish my employment contract with Evolve MMA before my last fight so I could focus all my energy on my fighting career," Burns said. I used to teach there also and I was feeling kind of overwhelmed with both teaching and training for fights so I decided to take a step back from teaching to focus on my own training and fights."



"Being with Gilbert at Blackzilians is amazing. We've been training together a lot more now and he is like a mentor to me. He only puts good thoughts in my head and prepares me for both training and for the fights themselves. He is definitely one of my sources of inspiration and when I see him compete on the highest level it’s just great. He has amazing talent and an amazing work ethic. I believe that soon he will be a contender in the UFC lightweight division."

