Gilbert Burns might not get his wish of a five-round contest in his UFC 287 clash with Jorge Masvidal but says that 15 minutes is more than enough time to make his rival “suffer”.

The two former training partners-turned-enemies (at least for now) will fight in the co-main event of the April 8 card at a location yet to be determined but despite being shut down in his request to upgrade the contest to 25-minutes, Burns is confident that he will make a statement.

“For sure, it’s a disappointment. I’m still waiting on the UFC. We’re talking with the UFC — if they say, ‘We don’t think so,’ I’m going to say please, come on. I don’t ask for much. I just want five rounds,” Burns said to MMA Fighting. “You guys did five rounds for Leon Edwards and Nate [Diaz], you guys did five rounds on other occasions. Why not? I’m pushing, but we’re still waiting.

“It’s very hard when one guy says no — it’s very hard for the UFC to say yes. So we’ll see. I would love to have that [‘BMF’] title in place and five rounds for sure because I just think I’m going to destroy this guy.

“Three rounds, I’m going to make that guy suffer so much in three rounds that it should be enough, but five rounds just guarantees a finish. If the fight is five rounds, I’ll finish, but if he don’t want it, it’s all good.”

When asked on the matter, Masvidal expressed no desire in changing the terms of the fight after signing his contract.

“I already got my contract. I already signed my shit. I could give a f*ck less,” Masvidal said. “Three rounds is more than enough that I need for Gilbert. I like all the publicity and extra that he’s putting into it, but brother, three rounds is all I need for that.”

UFC 287 is set to be headlined by the middleweight title rematch between champion Alex Pereira and former titleholder Israel Adesanya.