Sean Brady proved that he belongs among the welterweight elite with a hard-fought victory in the UFC UFC Fight Night 242 headliner on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Brady took a well-deserved unanimous decision over former UFC title challenger Gilbert Burns after five grueling rounds.
Brady (17-1, 7-1 UFC) established his jab early in the opening frame, and he backed Burns (22-8, 15-8 UFC) up against the cage on two occasions. Both men scored brief takedowns, but the round was predominantly contested in the clinch. Burns wobbled the Philadelphia native with a right hook to begin the second round, but Brady wisely tied him up in a clinch and landed one-two combos to the Brazilian’s face after the fighters separated. Brady targeted the inside and outside of Burns’ left leg with kicks as time ticked down. Early in the third round, Burns seemed to be slowing down, and Brady held him against the cage. However, a sudden burst of energy allowed Burns to score with two strong right hooks. He followed up with knees and uppercuts in a clinch, and momentum appeared to be shifting to the Brazilian before Brady put Burns on the mat and kept him there until the end of the round.
The fourth round began with two timeouts due to accidental groin kicks, with each man on the receiving end once. Burns landed two more right hooks that froze Brady in place each time after the restart. Brady continued to initiate clinches, and he briefly got Burns down, only for the Kill Cliff Fight Club rep to reverse and slam him to the mat in response. The competitive fight entered the fifth round, and Brady landed a nice flurry of punches. Burns responded with a flying switch knee to Brady’s face. In response, Brady took him down and kept Burns pinned against the base of the cage until the end of the fight. Scores were 49-46, 50-45 and 50-45 for Brady, who has won back-to-back fights since he suffered his lone career defeat against current UFC champion Belal Muhammad in October 2022.
Related » UFC Vegas 97 Round-by-Round Scoring
The UFC women’s flyweight division has a new breakout star in Brazil’s Natalia Silva (18-5-1, 6-0 UFC), who extended her winning streak to 12 with a unanimous decision over former UFC women’s strawweight champion Jessica Andrade (26-13, 17-11 UFC) in the co-main event at 125 pounds.
Silva maintained constant motion in the opening round, as she moved from side to side and prevented Andrade from zeroing in with her trademark power punches. Silva landed crisp jabs, and she countered a combination from Andrade with a side kick that knocked her down. Andrade opted to change tactics and pursued takedowns in the second round, but Silva’s defense was excellent. In addition, she hurt Andrade with a left hook to her eye. Andrade recovered, but Silva landed punches and a kick to her face before the bell. After Silva cracked her with a spinning heel kick to the face, Andrade resorted to pulling half guard in the final round. Silva immediately stood up and bloodied Andrade’s nose during an exchange. Andrade landed two of her best punches of the fight as time ticked down, but Silva barely flinched.
Scores were 30-27 across the board for Silva, who has not lost since December 2017.
Despite his opponent missing weight, featherweight rising star Steve Garcia (17-5, 6-2 UFC) persevered and secured his fifth straight stoppage victory in his featured bout against Kyle Nelson (16-6-1, 4-5-1 UFC). The fight began with a quick takedown from Nelson, who hunted for rear-naked chokes from back control and then transitioned to an armbar. That was a crucial mistake, however, and Garcia took advantage by punishing Nelson with hard elbows and punches from the top. Nelson covered up, and the fight looked like it was about to be stopped, though the Canadian survived the onslaught. Soon after, Nelson sat up against the cage and Garcia stunned him with two elbows to the face. Nelson slumped over to his side and covered up once more, as Garcia landed punches until the bout was stopped at the 3:59 mark of Round 1. All six of Garcia’s UFC wins have come via a form of knockout.
Cody Durden (17-6-1, 6-4-1 UFC) halted a two-fight losing skid and picked up his second UFC finish in an entertaining bantamweight bout against Matt Schnell (16-9, 6-7 UFC). Competing on very short notice, Durden engaged in an action-packed first round with Schnell before submitting him early in the second frame. The fight opened with both men throwing power punches, and neither one seemed willing to give an inch. Durden initiated the exchanges, but Schnell’s counter hooks and uppercuts landed. Soon, both men had cuts beside their eyes. Schnell began to target Durden’s lead leg, and he ducked under a head kick attempt from the Georgian later in the round. As the second round began, Schnell tried to shift gears by shooting in for a takedown. Durden quickly sprawled, however, and he trapped Schnell in a tight ninja choke. Schnell tried in vain to spin out of it, but he could not escape and tapped out with both hands at the 29-second mark of Round 2. The win puts Durden back on track after two recent defeats ended his four-fight winning streak.
Opening up the main card, Yanal Ashmoz (8-1, 2-1 UFC) effectively used his grappling to win his lightweight duel against the heavy-handed Trevor Peek (9-3, 2-3 UFC). In the first round, Peek used his jab to set up straight right hands, and that worked well until Ashmoz scored a takedown into side control. Peek battled back to his feet and resumed jabbing, as Ashmoz pursued another takedown before the bell. Peek slipped while throwing a looping punch in the second stanza, which allowed Ashmoz to take his back. Peek got to his feet, and Ashmoz met him with three hard knees to the chest. Park became wild in the final round, where he tried to land a knockout blow, but Ashmoz kept him tied up in clinches in order to limit his power. There was a late exchange of haymaker punches, but Peek was not able to score the knockout he was seeking, and Ashmoz pinned him against the cage. Scores were 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28 for Ashmoz, who bounced back after suffering his first pro loss in July 2023.
On undercard, Chris Padilla (15-6, 2-0 UFC) extended his winning streak to five by badly damaging the left eye of “Road to UFC” Season 2 lightweight winner Zhu Rong (25-6, 1-3 UFC) with a vicious elbow that resulted in a doctor stoppage at the 4:14 mark of Round 2; featherweight Isaac Dulgarian (7-1, 2-1 UFC) rebounded from his first pro loss by mauling and eventually submitting an overmatched Brendon Marotte (8-3, 0-2 UFC) with an arm-triangle choke at the 4:19 mark of Round 2; Andre Lima (10-0, 3-0 UFC) stayed unbeaten with a clear-cut unanimous decision—30-27, 29-28, 29-28—win over Felipe dos Santos (8-2, 1-2 UFC) at flyweight; and Gabriel Santos (11-2, 1-2 UFC) notched his first UFC win with a dominant unanimous decision—30-26, 30-26, 30-27—victory over “Road to UFC” Season 2 featherweight winner Zha Yi (25-5, 0-1 UFC).
In other preliminary action, Jaqueline Amorim (9-1, 3-1 UFC) swiftly submitted fellow former LFA champ Vanessa Demopoulos (11-6, 5-3 UFC) with an armbar 3:28 into the opening round of their strawweight contest; Andre Petroski (12-3, 7-2 UFC) smothered an overweight Dylan Budka (7-4, 0-2 UFC) on the ground throughout much of their middleweight bout on his way to a lackluster unanimous decision win, earning 30-27 scores across the board; and featherweight Nathan Fletcher (9-1, 1-0 UFC) opened up the show by submitting Zygimantas Ramaska (9-3, 0-1 UFC) with an arm-triangle choke at the 1:14 mark of Round 2.
