Stevie Ray accepts Gilbert Burns’ callout: ‘I’ll fight anyone’

Scottish lightweight Stevie Ray is currently a free agent, but he is more than happy to take Brazilian jiu jitsu ace Gilbert Burns up on his offer of a fight.

Burns told MMA Fighting’s Guilherme Cruz that he would like to fight either Ray or Olivier Aubin-Mercier following his second-round knockout win over Jason Saggo at UFC Pittsburgh.

Ray is open to meeting Burns if the UFC want to make the fight happen.

“I’ll fight anyone,” Ray told MMAFighting.com.

“I don’t know much about him to be honest. I had a quick look and I know that he’s a jiu jitsu world champion, but it’s not a jiu jitsu match.

“The fact that someone is calling me out off a knockout win is a compliment – people still see me as the next step. Obviously, if they want this fight, Sean Shelby is the man to speak to.

“If the UFC want to put that fight on then I’m up for it.”

Ray revealed that he would test free agency ahead of his UFC Glasgow bout with Paul Felder. “The Irish Dragon” took a first-round knockout win over Ray, and now the former Cage Warriors champion is waiting to hear to from Sean Shelby about his next move will be.

“(A new contract) will come around when there is a fight in place, but there really isn’t any fights for me at the moment because I’m out of contract. They have to look after the people that are in contracts with the UFC first,” Ray said.

“It’s just a case of waiting. It’s a bit rubbish having to wait around, but I understand that there are people in contract that are looking to get matched as well.”

According to Ray, Australian Damien Brown has also called for a fight with him, and he has no problem stepping up to the plate against “Beatdown” in his backyard.

“He said that he would like to fight against me, I think that was for the Sydney card – I don’t know if it’s Sydney but it’s an upcoming Australian card. Brown said that Shelby has said that he will be on the card and that he’d like to fight me.

“So, there are two guys that have said they want to fight me, and I’m happy to fight anyone,” he repeated.

Should he get a call for a fight, Ray said he would need six weeks to get himself into peak physical condition.

“As long as the time suits, that would be ideal. Realistically, I’m happy to fight anyone once I can get a decent fight camp in. I’ve been waiting around and it’s hard to stay motivated with my diet and to be training like a killer when I don’t know when I will be fighting.

“I would need about six weeks to get ready so I can get myself in the best physical shape possible.”