“Felt great! Had a great training camp and prepared a good strategy, but it’s a fight game and unfortunately I made a bad decision and paid for it,” the Brazilian wrote on social media. “Kudos to Jack for this great win! No excuses, I just thank God for my family, team, friends, sponsors and fans. It’s time to take some time off and spend it with my family. See you guys soon!”
According to the two judges, Burns won the first two rounds and would have taken the fight had he not missed a crushing knee to the head from Maddalena a minute and a half before the final siren that effectively sealed the match.
The win secured the Australian a spot in the top five of the UFC welterweight division, while the Brazilian dropped two spots to sixth in the rankings.