UFC Fight Night: Burns vs. Brady Preview and Predictions

Labor Day has come and gone, marking the unofficial start of fall. However, the UFC returns from a week off with a hotter than ever fight card featuring a pair of world class welterweights looking to make a hard charge for the championship. Sean Brady bounced back from his first career loss by absolutely dominating welterweight and middleweight veteran Kelvin Gastelum in his last bout. He hopes to score a win over another former title challenger this weekend. Gilbert Burns had success early on in his matchup against Kamaru Usman when the pair met with gold on the line. He would ultimately come up short and has struggled in his last two fights but looks to prove he is still eite this weekend.

UFC on ESPN: Burns vs. Brady airs live on ESPN+ starting at 4 p.m. ET. Combat Press writer Matt Petela previews the action for this week.

Sean Brady’s lone professional loss came to current champion Belal Muhammad; can the Philadelphia native earn a rematch by defeating Gilbert Burns?

Petela: Sean Brady will eventually be a UFC champion. I disagree with his former opponent Belal Muhammad that Brady doesn’t like to get hit. Obviously, every fighter would prefer not to get hit but there is a big difference between Brady and fighters like Brock Lesnar who would seemingly wilt under the first sign of trouble. Even when the two faced off, Muhammad didn’t stop Brady by dropping him and landing ground and pound while Brady covered up. The referee had to halt the contest with Brady still standing to protect him from taking any more damage.

That was Brady’s first foray into the elite level of competition in the welterweight division and he will take a lot from that loss. He looked great against Kelvin Gastelum and he will shine this weekend against Gilbert Burns. Burns is just a little bit past his prime but he does still have a big name. He was performing well against Jack Della Maddalena until he got clobbered. This is the perfect fight for Brady to showcase a bit of his striking and ultimately prove that he is a dominant wrestler, even against someone like Burns who is comfortable on his back. Fourth round TKO due to ground strikes and Brady gets his hand raised but he will still probably need one more big win before he finds himself in the title picture.

It has been nearly seven years since Natalia Silva has tasted defeat; how does she fare against former strawweight champion Jessica Andrade in the co-main event?

Petela: This is a definite step up in competition for Natalia Silva, who has become a rising star as she defeats veteran fighters every time she steps into the Octagon. This time she is biting off more than she can chew.

Jessica Andrade has looked great in her last two outings. She snapped a three-fight losing streak by absolutely pummeling Mackenzie Dern and then defeated another elite fighter in Marina Rodriguez the last time she fought. More than a showcase of Silva as the next big name at flyweight, this will be a fight for Andrade to prove that she still belongs at the top of the division and that she may just capture gold in a second division. This one won’t go the distance. Both women will be content to trade strikes in the center of the cage and it will be Andrade who lands a thunderous left hook that marks the beginning of the end of the fight.

What one fighter’s UFC career is on the ropes at this event?

Petela: Cody Durden. He is looking at three straight losses if he doesn’t defeat Matt Schnell. With the flyweight division seeing a surge in talent unlike it has in recent memory, that is probably all it will take for him to get his walking papers if he comes up short this weekend.

Which fight is the sleeper match-up on this card?

Petela: Andre Lima vs. Felipe dos Santos. While it won’t be as crazy as Lima’s UFC debut, which he won by DQ because his opponent bit him, this one should be all-action and high energy from the onset. Lima is an undefeated prospect and dos Santos has just one loss in his professional career which came against Manel Kape. These two are going to slug it out and scramble back and forth for fifteen minutes and they will both probably walk away with Fight of the Night checks.

Who takes home the “Performance of the Night” honors?

Petela: Trevor Peek. His fights are fun, plain and simple. His style is unorthodox and he does not possess enough talent to become a champion but his career will be full of memorable fights that earn him plenty of bonus checks. A first round knockout over Yanal Ashmouz will get him an extra $50K.

Pair this card with…

Petela: Grab the popcorn, this event is going to be entertaining from start to finish. There probably won’t be many fights that require the judges and there are sure to be numerous jaw-dropping finishes. Therefore, grab your favorite bag of popcorn, sit back, relax, and enjoy highlight after highlight.