Morning Report: Shane Burgos calls move to PFL ‘a no-brainer’: ‘I’m going to be making a stupid amount of money’

Shane Burgos says leaving the UFC for the PFL was an easy decision.

In August, Burgos announced the end of his free agency, revealing he had signed a deal with the PFL. It was not the first time the PFL tried to lure Burgos away from the UFC, having made him an offer in 2019. But this time the PFL was able to succeed because one top of the obviously alluring the $1 million prize for winning one of its tournaments, Burgos says he’ll also be doing quite well just from his base purse, making the choice a simple one for him.

“I’m going to be making a stupid amount of money,” Burgos told MMA Junkie. “The money was too good for me to pass up. I couldn’t say no to that money. I’ve got kids I’ve got to feed. The first time I did the free agency thing they gave me an offer, and it was a great offer the first time. In my head I was thinking, ‘I’m a UFC fighter.’ At the time I wasn’t a prize fighter. This time coming around, I’m a little bit older now. I’m 31 and I’m like, ‘I’m a prize fighter.’ That’s a prize.

“What I’m getting paid now. That’s a prize. Then on top of that you’ve got the million-dollar tournament, then on top of that you’ve got me doing the commentating gig, which is setting me up for when I’m done competing in the sport. It was a no-brainer when you laid out all the facts into a pros and cons chart.”

After Burgos signed with the PFL, Dana White admitted that losing Burgos was a mistake on the UFC’s part, and it’s easy to see why. During his nearly six year stint in the UFC, “Hurricane” amassed an 8-3 record in the promotion, earned four Fight of the Night bonuses, and established himself as one of the most exciting featherweights in the sport. Now Burgos will hope to continue building that reputation when he faces another recent PFL signee, former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes, at the PFL Championships. It’s a matchup that Burgos says he’d never thought about before, but one that guarantees that his PFL introduction will be a memorable one.

“I was surprised at first but when when I thought about it I said, ‘It kind of makes sense because this is the first PFL pay-per-view,’” Burgos said. “They want to stack the card with these fights people want to see. Who doesn’t want to see this fight? It’s his first fight at this weight class and he’s a guy that is super dangerous, super explosive. Him versus me, it’s a no-brainer why they put that on the pay-per-view card like right before the co-main event. … It’s a fight you could run 1,000 times and it will never be boring.”

The PFL Championships takes place on Nov. 25 at the Hulu Theater in New York City.

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Thanks for reading! See y’all tomorrow.

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