Sean Brady took a significant step towards his first UFC welterweight title shot by crushing Gilbert Burns’ hopes for one last title campaign. Brady got the better of Burns over their 25-minute main event at UFC Fight Night on Saturday by decision.
Brady’s pressure was the difference maker in a fight fought primarily on the feet and in the clinch. Burns was relatively competitive, buckling Brady with a punch in Round 2, but Brady’s huge striking lead earned him scorecards reading 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 for an unanimous decision win.
“Gilbert is tough as f—. I feel like I did better work on the feet than I did on the ground,” Brady said in his post-fight interview at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. “He was tough to get down. I tried to get him against the cage but he was strong. I got him shelled up in the middle like my coaches told me to. I stuck to the game plan and now I should be ranked way ahead of [Ian Machado Garry] or whatever your f—ing name is.
“I want someone in the top five but if not, mean and Ian have the same f—ing manager. Lloyd [Pierson], run that shit.”
Brady entered the fight as the No. 8 ranked welterweight fighter, per UFC’s official rankings, one spot behind Garry. The win over Burns likely puts Brady at No. 6 once the rankings are updated on Monday. UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who handed Brady his only defeat via second-round TKO in 2022, praised Brady on social media.
Brady, who improved to 17-1 on Saturday, also revealed that he and his wife were expecting a child.
“Coming into this camp I had a little more motivation,” Brady said. “I found out my wife’s pregnant and we’re going to have a baby girl.”
