With free agency looming, UFC featherweight Shane Burgos plans to see what his value is to the open market.
“You want to see what you’re worth, and what other people think you’re worth,” he said on The MMA Hour. “You know what you’re worth, so you want to see if it matches.”
Burgos gambled on himself for his UFC Long Island fight against Charles Jourdain, fighting out his contract with the promotion. His move to the open markets could have been devalued if he lost.
The previous time Burgos did the same thing, he stopped Makwan Amirkhani in 2019.. Then he went 1-2 with a decision win over Billy Quarantillo snapping his two-fight skid. The stakes were high for Jourdain.
“I was thinking about it the whole time,” Burgos said of the fight this past Saturday. “I feel like you just double down on yourself, and it shows a level of confidence. This puts you under a lot of pressure 100 percentage, as you don’t want to lose any money. You don’t have any leverage power and that’s a terrible look. But I don’t let that kind of pressure get to me. The pressure moreso was on me to get a finish.”
Burgos banked heavily on choke attempts in the first and second rounds after finding out he could take down Jourdain. His legs were in shock after the second attempt. He fought his way back to win, claiming that it was “five minutes of hell”.
Survive he did, however, and he took home a majority decision with scores of 29-28 twice and 28-28.
” I feel sick when I think of that round. It’s because my body f ****** has failed me as that. Burgos stated. I’ve never experienced lactic acid buildup in a situation where taking simple steps wasn’t enough ****** tiring .”
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Burgos believes he will not be considered a free agent until he has completed a UFC exclusive negotiation period. But he is adamant about understanding the marketplace for his services. At 15-3, he wants to be known as a well-rounded, title-worthy threat, and he believes that should be worth something to any promoter.
“I enjoy being in the UFC,” said he. “I love being a UFC fighter. But it doesn’t make sense for me to not ‘test the waters,’ but we’ll see what they come back with. To not hear any other numbers would be irresponsible of me, disrespectful to my family and negligent. I’d love to hear more numbers.
“I’m not going to be sitting back for four or five months waiting for a deal, but yeah, you want to throw some numbers at me, I’m definitely open to listen.”
It helps, however, that this marketplace is very different than the one Burgos was previously interested in. There weren’t many players on the market who were serious enough to pay for UFC fighters.
It’s an ideal time to be in business, regardless of whether it’s Bellator, Bellator or PFL.
“The first time I did it, I felt like it was even more taboo,” Burgos said. “I feel like nowadays, a lot more fighters are doing it. This is becoming more popular. The first time I did it, I was more nervous, like most people aren’t really doing this, and back then, nobody was talking about it in interviews. It’s like, hush-hush. Now, it’s a lot more common.”
