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Main Event Spotlight | UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady
Get A Closer Look At Welterweight Contenders Set To Make The Walk At UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady
The week before a historic event is set to go down at Sphere for UFC 306: O’Malley vs Dvalishvili, a welterweight main event headlines at UFC APEX as former title challenger Gilbert Burns takes on Philadelphia’s Sean Brady.
With a new champion, Belal Muhammad, sitting atop the division now, things are very much open for the list of contenders that could face Muhammad, and a big win in Las Vegas could set either one step closer to that list.
Let’s take an in-depth look at this welterweight matchup.
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Gilbert Burns
Gilbert Burns vs Sean Brady | UFC Journey
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Gilbert Burns vs Sean Brady | UFC Journey
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Burns steps into the Octagon for the second time in 2024, looking to get things back on track after losing to Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena earlier this year in Miami. “Durinho” currently sits ranked No. 6 in the welterweight rankings and is searching for his first win since defeating Jorge Masvidal last April.
Following that fight with Masvidal, Burns went on to face Muhammad in Newark last year, where he suffered some injuries that kept him on the sidelines until his return in March. Despite the ups and downs that have come in his career lately, the 38-year-old has been member of the Top 15 since 2019, and certainly has experience on his side. Throughout his career, he has truly faced the best of the best, including former champion Kamaru Usman, Khamzat Chimaev, Demain Maia and Stephen Thompson.
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It's no secret that Burns is a dangerous grappler. Since returning to the welterweight division in 2019, the Brazilian has secured 21 takedowns and is tied for the 2nd most in the division with Colby Covington, with Muhammad holding the record for 28 takedowns. During his fight against Maddalena, Burns had a UFC career-high seven takedowns. Taking down 17 of his 22 UFC opponents, fans can most likely expect to see lots of grappling during this main event.
Sean Brady
On the flip side, Brady is also known to be a threat on the ground, so it will be interesting to see how this fight will play out between two high-level grapplers. Brady is tied for 4th in welterweight takedowns, with 19. Among active welterweights, Brady has the second-highest takedown accuracy with 57.6 percent, behind Michael Chiesa. The 31-year-old has earned five of his 16 wins by submission, while Burns has secured nine of his wins by submission, five of them by armbar.
This fight marks Brady’s first of the year, after he was forced to withdraw from a proposed fight against Vicente Luque earlier this year due to injury. His lone fight in 2023 came against Kelvin Gastelum, who he submitted in third round by kimura. It was a big win for Brady, who was able to bounce back after suffering his first professional loss to Muhammad a year prior in Abu Dhabi. In his last fight against Gastelum, he had a 100% percent takedown rate, securing all five, with nine minutes of control time before securing the submission.
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Since arriving in the UFC back in 2019, Brady has been a hot prospect in the 170-pound division, and now sitting at No. 8, Brady looks to make himself a true contender.
Meeting In The Middle
On paper, this is a true grappler versus grappler matchup. Both men have an average fight time of 12 minutes, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see this fight go past three rounds and into the championship fourth and fifth rounds.
Brady has the higher takedown accuracy with 57.6 percent, compared to Burns’ 38.8 percent. The Philadelphia native also has higher takedown defense at 87.5 percent, compared to 50 percent for the Brazilian, in addition to both men holding black belts in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. However, both men have knockouts on their record. Brady has three wins by knockout and Burns has six by knockout.
They both have faced the current champion, Muhammad, and both lost to him, as well. Burns went the full three rounds, losing by unanimous decision, while Brady was stopped in the second round. Neither man was able to secure a takedown during their fights with Muhammad.
Top 10 welterweight contenders are set to collide at UFC APEX in Las Vegas, and the winner could put themselves within arm’s length of a rematch with the champ.
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
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