Sean Brady proved he’s among the elite of the UFC welterweight elite Saturday as he dominated a former title challenger from bell to bell.
In the UFC Fight Night 242 main event, Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) defeated Gilbert Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) by unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45) at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Brady’s game plan from the start was the make getting a hold of Burns a priority. He pushed the pace and shoved Burns against the fence. Burns largely fended off the takedown attempts.
Burns tagged Brady numerous times in the fight, in particular during Round 3. In the seconds afterward, Brady finally got the takedown he was seeking.
Round 4 was choppy, divided by timeouts due to illegal groin shots by both men. Brady went back to his grinding game plan and pushed Burns against the fence. Burns, as he did earlier in the fight, did an excellent job of utilizing muay Thai strikes to break the grasp, even if the escape only lasted a few seconds. The final two minutes were grapple-heavy with some momentum-shifting sweeps and scrambles.
Both men dug deep in the final round. Burns half-landed a big flying knee, but Brady caught hold of him and eventually got him down to the canvas. Brady finished the fight on top – and ultimately earned 14 of the 15 round scorecards from the three judges scoring.
After the fight, Brady called for his next matchup to be vs. a top-five opponent, or Ian Machado Garry.
Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady go the distance at #UFCVegas97!
How did you score it? pic.twitter.com/0mvxriZRdy
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) September 8, 2024
With the victory, Brady picks up his biggest victory to date over a former UFC title challenger. Brady has now won back-to-back fights since his lone career loss, a TKO defeat to now-champion Belal Muhammad.
In defeat, Burns has lost three fights in a row. Defeats to Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena accompany the loss to Brady. At 38, it’s his longest skid of his professional career.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 242 results include:
- Sean Brady def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 50-45)
- Natalia Silva def. Jessica Andrade via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Steve Garcia def. Kyle Nelson via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 3:59
- Cody Durden def. Matt Schnell via submission (anaconda choke) – Round 2, 0:29
- Yanal Ashmouz def. Trevor Peek via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Chris Padilla def. Rong Zhu via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) – Round 2, 4:14
- Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 4:19
- Andre Lima def. Felipe dos Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Gabriel Santos def. Yi Zha via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Jaqueline Amorim def. Vanessa Demopoulos via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 3:28
- Andre Petroski def. Dylan Budka via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Nathan Fletcher def. Zygimantas Ramaska via submission (arm-triangle choke) – Round 2, 1:14
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 242.
