Sean Brady defeats no. 6 ranked Gilbert Burns in UFC Vegas 97 main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returned to us tonight, September 7, 2024, for UFC Vegas 97, going down live from the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Headlining the event was a welterweight clash between no. 6 ranked former title challenger Gilbert Burns (22-8) and no. 8 ranked former CFFC welterweight champion Sean Brady (17-1).
Since challenging then champion Kamaru Usman for the title in 2021 Burns had gone 3-3, defeating former two-time title challenger Stephen Thompson (UD), losing a disputed decision to Khamzat Chimaev (UD), defeating Neil Magny (arm-triangle choke) and another former two-time title challenger in Jorge Masvidal (UD), before losing his latest two appearances to current champion Belal Muhammad (UD) and Jack Della Maddalena (KO).
Brady on the other hand won his first five octagon bouts against the likes of Court McGee (UD), Ismail Naurdiev (UD), Christian Aguilera (guillotine choke), Jake Matthews (arm-triangle choke), and Michael Chiesa (UD). He then suffered the first defeat of his career, like Burns, losing to Belal Muhammad (TKO), before rebounding with a dominant win over Kelvin Gastelum (kimura) last December.
Continue reading to see how our UFC Vegas 97 welterweight main event went down:
Official Result: Sean Brady def. Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)
The opening round was very competitive between these two, Burns securing an early double leg with Brady immediately returning to his feet. Brady secured a takedown of his own later on in the round, though Burns also worked his way right back up.
Burns landed a solid right hand at the start of the second, Brady of which tied up with him and pressed him into the fence. An interesting scramble soon after ensued, Brady securing a momentary takedown before Burns reversed it with a takedown of his own. Brady got back to his feet quickly and picked Burns apart for the remainder of the round.
Burns landed some more heavy punches in round three, Brady ending the round with a big takedown; he ate some heavy shots in the middle stretch but never stopped pressing forward.
By the midway point of round four Brady had landed over 100 significant strikes while Burns was still defending takedowns along the fence with 31, the striking totals being 221-57 once the round was complete in favor of Brady.
The fifth and final round was Brady’s most dominant, securing three total takedowns throughout. He did eat a pretty nasty flying knee earlier on in it, but didn’t go out or get dropped and secured a beautiful single leg following.
Sean Brady will presumably be ranked at no. 6 in the division come next week, and he called for a fight with anyone in the top five, or no. 7 ranked Ian Garry. Who wouldn’t love a matchup between Brady and Garry next?
If you enjoyed this piece, feel free to share it on social media!
