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Inside the split that led Kamaru Usman and Gilbert Burns to their tense UFC 258 main event

IT WAS SEPTEMBER 2020, and UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman raised some eyebrows as he entered the Sanford MMA gym in Deerfield Beach, Florida. It was his first visit since he changed teams in the spring.

There was talk of Usman defending his title in December against former training partner and current Sanford fighter Gilbert Burns, who was in the gym that day. Some fighters joked with Usman about how he was invading his old turf.

"Very professional," Burns told ESPN of his exchange with Usman. "But nothing too friendly, no hugging.