Sean Brady made his case for being included in the title conversation in the welterweight division with a unanimous decision victory over Gilbert Burns in the main event of Saturday’s Fight Night event at the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
The Philadelphia native out-worked the former title challenger throughout the fight, earning scores of 50-45 twice and 49-46 once to register his second consecutive victory. From the outset, the 31-year-old stuck to the game plan and fought intelligently, using his striking to keep Burns out of balance on the outside and working well in the clinch whenever things got a little tricky.
While there wasn’t anything overly dramatic or dynamic about Brady’s effort, it was a quality, workmanlike performance for the promising welterweight, whose only career setback came two years ago in Abu Dhabi against current champion Belal Muhammad. Injuries and illnesses have forced Brady out of key bouts and left him on the sidelines more often than he would like, but when he’s in the Octagon, the performances have largely been there.
Following the victory, Brady suggested that his win over Burns should put him ahead of Ian Machado Garry in the rankings, calling for a bout with the unbeaten Irish standout next. It’s both a smart call-out for the Marquez MMA representative and a good fight for the division, given how things stand at the moment.
Muhammad won the belt in July and has yet to have his first title defence scheduled, with unbeaten contender Shavkat Rakhmonov and former champ Kamaru Usman each lobbying for the opportunity to share the Octagon with the new titleholder. That leaves ex-champ Leon Edwards, perennial contender Colby Covington, and streaking Aussie Jack Della Maddalena as others in the mix along with Machado Garry and Brady, and any combination of matchups built from those options would honestly be a welcomed addition to the UFC slate either later this year or in the early part of 2025.
As if there wasn’t already a ton of congestion at the top of the flyweight division, Natalia Silva added her name to the growing list of contenders in the talent-rich weight class by out-working former strawweight titleholder Jessica Andrade over three rounds.
From the outset, the 27-year-old Brazilian used her movement and diverse striking arsenal to keep her compatriot off balance, with her quickness and variety of attacks stifling Andrade’s advances. The longer the fight went on, the more Silva impressed, as she broke out more weapons and continued to distance herself from the veteran, ultimately resulting in a clean sweep of the scorecards.
Now 6-0 in the UFC and riding a 12-fight winning streak, Silva just took out the sixth-ranked fighter in the division and a former champion, which should elevate her into the crowded title picture.
With the championship trilogy between Alexa Grasso and Valentina Shevchenko set for next weekend at Noche UFC and a pivotal divisional battle between Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas on tap for Edmonton in November, clarity at the top of the division is coming, and once the dust settles, don’t be surprised if Silva finds herself matched up with a Top 5 opponent with the potential for a title shot hanging in the balance next time out.
There are few fighters hotter in the UFC at the moment than Steve Garcia, who picked up his fifth consecutive stoppage win on Saturday with a first-round finish of Canadian Kyle Nelson.
After slipping along the fence in the opening seconds of the fight, Garcia defended well with Nelson on his back, and once he was able to twist into his guard midway through the round, he was punished non-stop by the Jackson-Wink MMA representative. Opting for elbows over punches, Garcia unloaded a barrage of shots that left Nelson covering up, prompting referee Mark Smith to step in and halt the action.
It’s difficult to say a fighter has “quietly” won five straight, but Garcia’s ascent in the featherweight ranks has largely happened under the radar, though Saturday’s effort should change that. He’s putting opponents out with great ferocity and impressive frequency, and once he’s back from his well-earned fishing trip, a date with a Top 15 opponent could be in the offing.
Cody Durden wasn’t scheduled to fight when the week started, but after getting called into action opposite Matt Schnell mid-week, the Georgia native headed into the opening Sunday of the NFL season with a submission win under his belt.
After the two spent the first round trading shots with one another, Schnell took an ill-advised shot from way too far out to begin the second, and Durden made him pay, locking onto a ninja choke and drawing out a panicked two-hand tap from his friend and occasional training partner. This was a big bounce-back win for Durden, who was cruising along before getting knocked out by Bruno Silva last time out, and the last hurrah for Schnell, who left his gloves in the center of the Octagon following the contest, signalling that he’s closing the door on his fighting career.
Saturday’s prelims wrapped with a pair of impressive outings by unheralded prospects, as Chris Padilla registered his second stoppage win of the year, and Isaac Dulgarian got things moving in the right direction again.
Padilla scored a massive upset earlier in the year in his short-notice debut, and followed it up Saturday by posting a second-round stoppage win over Rongzhu to close out the early slate. Late in the second round, “Taco” timed a heavy-swinging elbow that connected flush with the left side of the returning Chinese fighter’s face, instantly causing his eye to swell shut, prompting referee Kerry Hatley to pause the action and wave off the fight when it was determined Rongzhu could not continue.
One fight earlier, Dulgarian got himself back in the win column with a second-round submission win over Brendon Marotte.
After fading hard and dropping a split decision to Christian Rodriguez in his previous appearance, Dulgarian wasted no time asserting his dominance, putting Marotte on the canvas immediately in both the first and second, keeping him pinned to the canvas the remainder of the fight. While he couldn’t find a finish in the opening stanza, Dulgarian was able to clamp onto an arm-triangle choke in the second, drawing out the tap in the final minute.
Andre Lima continued to make his case for being included on the “Rookie of the Year” ballot in the UFC this year, collecting his third win in seven months with a unanimous decision victory over fellow Brazilian Felipe dos Santos.
A member of the DWCS Class of ’23, Lima leaned on his grappling over the final two rounds to dominate his compatriot, working to mount in the second before taking the back and threatening with chokes throughout the third. His UFC tenure began with a disqualification win after getting
bitten by his opponent, but over his last two outings, “Mascote’ has shown he’s a quality prospect with an abundance of upside in the 125-pound weight class.
After landing on the wrong side of the results in each of his first two UFC appearances, Gabriel Santos turned in a dominant effort against Yizha on Saturday to collect his first victory inside the Octagon.
The former LFA featherweight champ was sharp from the outset, dominating the Road to UFC Season 2 tournament winner the whole way through. Santos dropped Yizha in the first with a front kick to the chin, split him open with a slicing elbow from top position in the second, and out-classed him on the canvas in the third, finishing the fight in back mount threatening with a rear-naked choke.
Santos is one of those competitors that was always better than his record inside the Octagon suggested and showed that here. The 29-year-old joined the Chute Boxe Diego Lima team prior to this fight and should continue to improve as he spends more time training with the elite squad in Sao Paulo.
The strawweight clash between Jaqueline Amorim and Vanessa Demopoulos ended with the Brazilian collecting a third straight submission win as the American lodged an objection about her tactics.
Amorim took control of the fight on the canvas almost immediately, showing her superior grappling skills as she worked to three-quarter mount and eventually the back, where she began targeting the arm of Demopoulos. As Amorim tried to gather wrist control, Demopoulos complained that the Brazilian was grabbing the inside of her glove, which impacts her ability to defend.
The action continued, Amorim collected the wrist, laid out, and collected the tap, with Demopoulos instantly voicing her objections to referee Jacob Montalvo. We’ll see what, if anything, comes of this situation, but for now, it’s a third consecutive win and finish for the 29-year-old Brazilian, who remains an interesting emerging name to track in the 115-pound weight class.
Nathan Fletcher kicked off Saturday’s event at the UFC APEX with a second-round submission win over TUF 32 teammate Zygimantas Ramaska.
The Team Shevchenko fighters got into a series of scrambles early, with Ramaska cracking Fletcher with an elbow off his back that caused the Liverpool man to leak claret. But as the round wore on, Fletcher settled in, finishing the frame in mount. As soon as the second began, he immediately worked his way back there, quickly clamping onto an arm-triangle choke and squeezing out the tap.