‘This freaking Conor!’ Gilbert Burns blasts McGregor after teammate cut from TUF 31

Did Conor McGregor clear house on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 31 to make room for his own guys? It’s an accusation “The Notorious” has denied (details here), but is once again being made — this time by Welterweight contender, Gilbert Burns.

Burns scorched McGregor over the removal of “Durhinho” teammate, Loik Radzhabov, via Twitter.

“This guy is my teammate!” Gilbert wrote. “Loik Radzhabov 2x PFL finalist 155! Work so hard and was ready to finally get his shot in the UFC on TUF was in Vegas everything good to go! This freaking Conor bring his own guys and they kick him out! Not Fear [Fair]!”

“Not [fair] with Loik!” he wrote in a second tweet. “Now more than ever F— this guy.”

Other fighters who were brought to Las Vegas, Nevada, only to find out they wouldn’t actually be on TUF include Kenny Cross, Mitch Ramirez, Anthony Burchick and Brandon Jenkins. Even former Sean O’Malley opponent, Kris Moutinho, wasn’t high profile enough to survive a brutal last-minute purge.

For his part, McGregor has denied having anything to do with the cuts.

“I only know 1 guy on this show and he put himself forward for it,” McGregor wrote in a since-deleted tweet. “And he is now, after today, set to fight the No. 1 seed! I didn’t ask nor request nothing! And I certainly didn’t have people removed. I’m just tryna get back in the mix myself so f— off.”

McGregor put forward a much more tongue-in-cheek response to the drama on Instagram, sharing a quote from The Simpsons, where Homer makes heavy cuts to the football team to make room for his son, Bart.

“Good practice, team!” McGregor wrote. “Ok it’s time for the easiest part of any coach’s job.. the cuts. Now, while I wasn’t able to cut everyone I wanted to, I have cut a lot of you. Wendell is cut. Rudy is cut. Janey, you’re gone. Stephen, I like your hustle. That’s why it was so hard to cut you. Congratulations! The rest of you made the team! Except you, you and you.”

While cutting fighters to make room for his own picks certainly sounds like something McGregor would do, he’s also not the sort to deny or apologize for it if that was the case. So, it’s completely possible that it was UFC that over-booked TUF 31, and now “The Notorious” is getting blamed for something he has nothing to do with.

It’s still a shame reading some of the names who were cut. As Burns pointed out, Loik Radzhabov is a stud. Kenny Cross could have won the whole show. And who wouldn’t want to watch Kris Moutinho get a redemption arc?

The date and location for Conor McGregor vs. Michael Chandler is unknown at this time. Nevertheless, TUF 31 will debut on May 30, 2023, and run until Aug. 15, 2023.

For the latest and greatest TUF 31-related news and notes click here.