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.
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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.
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.