Gilbert Alexander Pontes Burns (born 20 July 1986) is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist and submission grappler.

[11] When Burns was young, his father offered to fix a customer's car in exchange for three months of jiu-jitsu lessons for all of his boys.

[12] Burns started training at Academia Associação Oriente, an affiliate of Nova União led by Welton Ribeiro.

He reached the semifinals of the European Open in January; he defeated heavy favorite Celso Venicius at the World Pro Cup trials; he won the World Cup finals in Abu Dhabi against Claudio Mattos, and he won the Brazilian Nationals in May.

[8] In 2011, Burns achieved his highest recognition as he won the gold medal in the 2011 World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships.

[14] Burns faced Rafael Lovato Jr. in the main event of Who's Number One on 30 April 2021 and won a unanimous decision.

[16] After winning the 2011 World Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championships, Burns decided to make mixed martial arts his main focus and made his professional debut in January 2012.

[17] Burns made his debut on 26 July 2014 at UFC on Fox 12, replacing an injured Viscardi Andrade against promotional newcomer Andreas Stahl.

[19] Burns faced promotional newcomer Christos Giagos in a lightweight bout on 25 October 2014 at UFC 179.

[26] However, Burns pulled out of the fight due to injury in late April and was replaced by Francisco Trinaldo.

[28] After getting knocked down multiple times during the bout, he lost the first fight via unanimous decision, marking his first loss in his MMA career.

[41] However, the pairing never materialized as Vannata was unable to accept the fight for this date/event as he was still rehabilitating a recent arm injury,[42] instead Burns was scheduled to face newcomer Dan Moret in this event.

[48] Burns was expected to face returning veteran Eric Wisely on 27 April 2019 at UFC Fight Night: Jacaré vs.

[51] Burns returned to the welterweight facing Alexey Kunchenko on 10 August 2019 at UFC Fight Night 156, replacing injured Laureano Staropoli.

[53] Burns stepped in as a late replacement to face Gunnar Nelson, on 28 September 2019 at UFC Fight Night 160.

[63][64][65] However, on 3 July 2020, it was revealed that Burns tested positive for COVID-19, and he was subsequently removed from the card, and replaced by Jorge Masvidal.

[69] Burns knocked Usman down early in the fight, but went on to lose the bout via technical knockout in the third round.

[84] Burns faced Sean Brady on 7 September 2024 at UFC Fight Night 242 in the main event.