Rising welterweight contender Sean Brady worked a gruelling pace against Gilbert Burns through five rounds, earning him a near-shutout unanimous decision outcome and the biggest victory of his pro career thus far.
Brady’s high-profile win came in the main event of a UFC “Fight Night” card from the APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on Saturday night.
A relentless pace on the feet along with the ability to compete with Burns on the ground allowed Brady to take all five rounds on two of the judge’s scorecards, dropping just one round on the sole judge who didn’t see it as a perfect game for him.
He got the jump on a slow-starting Burns early, connecting with a high volume of shots in the first 10 minutes of the fight. Brady pushed the pace of the fight and scored a higher output of shots in all five rounds, although Burns would land singular shots that showed he was still an obvious threat. Near the end of the third round, the only round that he took on any of the scorecards, Burns unloaded with a hard knee to the head that caused a roar from the APEX crowd.
Brady was able to take Burns down throughout the fight, but could only do something significant with the position in a few instances. Burns’ grappling skills allowed him to quickly escape some positions and even reverse into a controlling spot, making the most successful moments from Brady emerge on the feet.
The result from Saturday night, Brady’s first UFC main event appearance, was the biggest win thus far. While he has overcome experienced names like Kelvin Gastelum and Michael Chiesa in the past, he had yet to beat any of the fighters who sit just outside of the title picture. His biggest test prior to this weekend came in 2022 when he had his undefeated record broken by now-champ Belal Muhammad.
Brady came into this weekend ranked eighth in the official UFC welterweight standings. Now that he has gotten eighth-place Burns, it’s highly likely that he’ll move up a couple of spots in the standings soon.
Brady wants to keep climbing the welterweight ranks quickly, with his eyes now set on a fight against anyone in the top five, or seventh-place Irish stand-out Ian Machado Garry.
“Obviously I want someone in the top five,” Brady said in his post-fight interview. “If not, me and Ian [Machado Garry] have the same manager. Run that s***.”
Burns took his third consecutive loss on Saturday, marking the longest run of defeats in his entire pro career. He faced a couple of other tough welterweights before, dropping bouts to the aforementioned Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena over the past two years.
Silva Gets Past Sixth-Ranked Andrade In Competitive Stand-up Battle
Natalia Silva continued her climb up the flyweight division in Saturday’s co-main event, overcoming former champ Jessica Andrade after a competitive three-round battle on the feet.
Silva out-landed an aggressive Andrade, who constantly advanced and charged forward throughout the fight. Silva scored a high volume of shots while circling the perimeter of the cage, unloading fast combinations from the start of the fight to the end.
Silva certainly had to work for the win, as Andrade remained aggressive throughout and connected with her fair share of shots as well. However, after three rounds, the judges saw the bout as a clean sweep on scorecards in favor of Silva.
The fight is expected to move Silva up the flyweight standings. This weekend, she entered eighth place, while Andrade was up at sixth.
Silva has yet to lose since entering the UFC roster in the middle of 2022. She has attained six wins in the promotion, including a decision earlier this year over flyweight contender Viviane Araujo.
Following her win, the rising contender turned her focus to a potential fight for the UFC Flyweight Championship.
“Dana [White], I came here to be a champion. I want that shot,” Silva said through an interpreter.
Andrade, a past champ at strawweight, had a two-fight run of wins broken this weekend. She had previously gotten past Mackenzie Dern and Marina Rodriguez at 115 pounds before moving back up for her booking this weekend.
Garcia Unloads Hard Ground and Pound, Earns Fifth Consecutive Finish Win
Vicious ground and pound from Steve Garcia continued his run of finish wins on Saturday night, putting away Kyle Nelson in the first round of their featherweight clash.
The 145-pound fight hit the canvas early after a slip from Garcia. This allowed Nelson to have a brief advantage, trying for a rear naked choke while on Garcia’s back.
Garcia started to take over the fight after escaping and getting into a controlling position on the ground. From full guard he started to unload with with hard ground and pound, causing the referee to warn Nelson to defend himself.
Nelson survived for a while but eventually was taken out of the fight after consuming a hard elbow to the head.
“I knew coming into this fight [that] Kyle Nelson is a monster … One of our streaks had to end tonight, it wasn’t gonna be mine,” Garcia said.
The win on Saturday night continued an incredibly impressive run for Garcia, stringing together five straight finish wins since 2022. His last fight was even quicker than this weekend’s performance, stopping Choi Seung-woo in just 96 seconds less than two months ago.
Nelson also entered Saturday with some momentum, having earned a trio of wins since mid-2023. His previous appearance was a first-round victory over Bill Algeo.
Schnell Signals Potential Retirement Following Loss To Durden
Short-notice fighter Cody Durden scored an impressive win on Saturday night, using a failed takedown attempt from Matt Schnell to apply an anaconda choke and win early in the second round.
The submission outcome seemingly marked the end of Schnell’s MMA career, as the once-ranked flyweight left his gloves in the cage following the bout’s conclusion.
Durden was quick to slip the choke under Schnell’s neck in a sprawl position after a blocking a takedown. It didn’t take long for the choke to force a tap from Schnell from this position, bringing a sudden end to their flyweight clash.
The finishing sequence came shortly after a back-and-forth opening round on the feet, with the 125-pound fighters trading scrappy boxing and landing more than a combined 70 shots.
Durden took the fight on only a few days’ notice, stepping in after Alessandro Costa withdrew from his booking against Schnell.
Following his win, Durden dedicated the fight to Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, where two students and two teachers were killed earlier this week in a shooting.
“What I did tonight is nothing compared to those kids and the heroism they had that day,” he said.
If Schnell walks away from MMA this weekend, he ends a career which included nearly a decade in the sport’s top promotion and more than a dozen pro wins.
Schnell first debuted in 2012 following a three-year run on the amateur scene. A seven-fight winning streak on the regionals got him onto Season 24 of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2016, providing him a pathway to joining the UFC roster. Despite losing in the show’s semi-final round, he signed onto the promotion later that year.
34-year-old Schnell most notably put together four wins in the UFC cage at one point, a run was stopped in 2019 by now-champ Alexandre Pantoja.
Schnell fought at a high level in the flyweight division for years, meeting names like Brandon Royval, Steve Erceg, and Matheus Nicolau. Saturday marked his third consecutive loss since late 2022.
Ashmouz Uses Grappling To Win In Return
A grappling-heavy gameplan from Yanal Ashmouz proved to be successful against Trevor Peek, getting him back into the win column with a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night.
Ashmouz countered the forward-marching stand-up style of Peek by getting the fight to the ground over the course of 15 minutes. Peek would often find himself getting taken down just moments after charging forward with one of his combinations of punches, allowing Ashmouz to work for numerous minutes.
While Peek out-landed Ashmouz overall, he only took as many as one round on scorecards due to the significant amount of control time that Ashmouz mounted.
“We know he’s [an] aggressive guy and he comes forward all the time, so we just wanted to be prepared to take [him] down,” Ashmouz said in his post-fight interview.
The fight put Ashmouz back into the win column after suffering his first pro loss over a year ago, dropping a decision to Chris Duncan.
Peek has now lost three of his five UFC appearances since his 2023 debut.
Padilla Earns Doctor Stoppage Win, ‘TUF’ Alum Fletcher Overcomes UFC Debut on Prelims
A nasty elbow to the head from Chris Padilla caused significant swelling around the left eye of Rongzhu, resulting in a second-round doctor stoppage TKO in Saturday’s feature prelim. Padilla was returning after earning an upset victory over James Llontop in April, beginning his run on the UFC roster. Rongzhu was kicking off his second stint in the promotion, returning after winning the 2023-24 season of “Road To UFC.”
Isaac Dulgarian looked every part of a massive sportsbook favorite against Brendon Marotte, smothering his featherweight opponent on the ground until an arm triangle choke emerged in the second round. The fight bounced Dulgarian back from his first and only UFC loss.
Andre Lima remained undefeated with a commanding three-round performance against flyweight Felipe dos Santos. Lima had success on the ground, coming close to finishing the fight with a rear naked choke in the third round. He has picked up three wins in his rookie year as a UFC fighter, with Saturday arguably being his strongest outing yet.
UFC newcomer Yizha has able to survive three rounds against the crafty striking of Gabriel Santos, but ended up losing a lopsided unanimous decision in the end. Santos, who marked up the face of Yizha and scored a knockdown in the opening frame, earned his first UFC win and snapped a two-fight skid with the performance. Yizha was appearing for the first time since winning the 2023-24 “Road To UFC” bracket at featherweight.
Controversy erupted early on Saturday evening, as Vanessa Demopoulos protested her first-round submission loss against grappling ace Jaqueline Amorim. During and after the finish Demopoulos argued that Amorim was illegally grabbing her glove, giving an unfair advantage while searching for the hold. However, the referee stood by his submission ruling.
Andre Petroski used his wrestling skills to earn a unanimous decision win over Dylan Budka, scoring an overwhelming amount of control time over three rounds. Petroski has now earned two victories this year, returning after a win in July against Josh Fremd. Budka, who struggled significantly on the scales earlier this week and missed the middleweight limit by two-and-a-half pounds, is winless through two UFC appearances.
In a second-chance bout between “The Ultimate Fighter” competitors, Nathan Fletcher survived some aggressive wrestling exchanges against Zygimantas Ramaska to score an arm triangle choke in the second round. Fletcher, who was eliminated in this year’s featherweight bracket on “TUF,” transitioned into the submission after getting a full mount. Ramaska was given this fight after he was removed from the show’s semi-finals due to not being medically cleared.
Quick Results
Main Card (7:00PM EDT / 4:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 12: Sean Brady def. Gilbert Burns via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Natalia Silva def. Jessica Andrade via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 10: Steve Garcia def. Kyle Nelson via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:59)
Bout 9: Cody Durden def. Matt Schnell via Submission, Anaconda Choke (RD 2, 0:29)
Bout 8: Yanal Ashmouz def. Trevor Peek via Decision, Unanimous
Preliminary Card (4:00PM EDT / 1:00PM PDT) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: Chris Padilla def. Rongzhu via TKO, Doctor Stoppage (RD 2, 4:14)
Bout 6: Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 2, 4:19)
Bout 5: Andre Lima def. Felipe dos Santos via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 4: Gabriel Santos def. Yizha via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 3: Jaqueline Amorim def. Vanessa Demopoulos via Submission, Armbar (RD 1, 3:28)
Bout 2: Andre Petroski def. Dylan Budka via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 1: Nathan Fletcher def. Zygimantas Ramaska via Submission, Arm Triangle Choke (RD 2, 1:14)
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