UFC Vegas 97 Preview
The UFC is returning to the Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada for on Saturday, September 7th for UFC Vegas 97. The main event will be in the welterweight division between former title challenger #6 Gilbert Burns and #8 Sean Brady.
Burns is trying to rebound from two straight losses having most recently lost by KO to rising contender Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 in March. The other loss was by unanimous decision to now champion Belal Muhammad. Since challenging for the title in 2021 he has gone 3-3 and needs a win on Saturday to remain considered a top contender at 170 pounds.
Despite being inconsistent lately, Burns believes he can go on one more title run. “Whenever I’m at my best, even at training or in a fight, I still feel like I can beat so many guys out there,” Burns said. “I still have a lot of fight in me.”
A title run could result in a rematch with current champion Muhammad, a loss that Burns wants to avenge. “I want that rematch back,” Burns says. “That’s the one that was very hard for me to swallow. … I hope when I make it back to the title, he’s the one holding [the belt], and we’ll make that rematch.”
The 38-year-old talked about Brady who is known for his powerful wrestling. “I hope we’ll grapple. I think we’re gonna grapple,” says Burns, a former world-class submission grappler before putting his full energy behind his MMA career. “I’m gonna look for grappling. I’m gonna look for takedowns. … We might avoid each other, and it might be a battle on the feet, but maybe I get a good takedown; maybe he gets a takedown and we’ll grapple. I’m excited to see. I still think strongly that we’re gonna grapple.”
The Brazilian is confident but knows it will not be easy to defeat Brady. “I believe I’m gonna beat Sean Brady. I don’t think it’s gonna be easy,” Burns said. “I think I might get in trouble a little bit; I might put him in trouble a little bit. But I do believe, at the end of the night, I’m gonna win that fight.”
Burns has his sights set on a few contenders with a win over Brady. “I’m looking forward to a No. 1 contender fight,” he says, “so we’ve got Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman, or Colby Covington. Those are the guys I’m looking forward to after I beat Sean Brady, to fight one of these guys and earn a title shot with a win over these guys.”
Since his UFC debut in 2014, Burns has collected 15 wins with key victories over Jorge Masvidal, Neil Magny, Stephen Thompson, Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia. The welterweight division has evolved since he last fought for the title, so a title run would take convincing wins by Burns. It all starts on Saturday with a win over Brady, a prospect on the rise who has only been defeated once in his career by the champion Muhammad.
Brady rebounded well from his TKO loss to Muhammad by defeating Kelvin Gastelum via third round submission in December. The 31-year-old is 6-1 in the UFC and has reflected on his only loss to the current champion by calling out the fans.
“I don’t understand the fraud checked thing. First of all, Twitter f*****g sucks. It’s a cesspool full of miserable, miserable people, it’s insane. These people on there are nuts. You’d never say anything that these guys say to your face, they are some dork in their mom’s basement, just eating Cheetos. I got fraud-checked, Joey (Pyfer) got fraud-checked, a bunch of other guys got fraud-checked. What is fraud-checked by a fighter who is in the top-10, top-15? I don’t understand it,” Sean Brady said.
He continued, “That is frustrating to see. It is never other fighters who say it. I don’t understand the fraud-checked thing. But, I guess I got fraud-checked by the UFC champion. Thanks, bro.”
Brady talked about his gameplan against Burns. “Gilbert, amazing jiu-jitsu,” Brady said. “Obviously he’s won (world championships) and everything like that, but that was a long time ago, and that was in the gi. Gi and no-gi is completely different, and MMA jiu-jitsu is completely different, as well.
“I think he’s got great submissions. I’m sure he’s great on bottom, but I definitely think I have better jiu-jitsu, and I’m looking to test it.”
Despite his confidence, Brady has respect for Burns. “I was kind of asking for Gilbert,” Brady said. “I was asking for a lot of guys, but Gilbert was definitely one of them. I respect Gilbert. He’s an amazing fighter, and he’s done amazing things. He’s fought for the belt, and he had a competitive fight with some of the best guys. He had a great fight going with Jack until it didn’t go his way. He’s a great fighter and a competitor, and I’m just looking forward to testing myself against him. I think it’s my first true veteran fight that I’m going to get to test myself against somebody who’s been there, done that.”
Aside from Gastgelum, Brady has a key win over Michael Chiesa. But a win over Burns would be the biggest of his career and would announce his presence into the title conversation at welterweight. The division has seen the emergence of new contenders in the top 10 and Brady could solidify his position on that list with a dominant performance against Burns.
The rest of the main card:
Women's Flyweight - #6 Jéssica Andrade vs. #8 Natália Silva
Featherweight - Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson
Bantamweight - #11 Matt Schnell vs. #15 Cody Durden
Lightweight - Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz
Lightweight - Rong Zhu vs. Chris Padilla
ESPN+ Prelims:
Featherweight - Isaac Dulgarian vs. Brendon Marotte
Flyweight - Felipe dos Santos vs. André Lima
Featherweight - Yi Zha vs. Gabriel Santos
Women's Strawweight - Jaqueline Amorim vs. Vanessa Demopoulos
Middleweight - Andre Petroski vs. Dylan Budka
Featherweight - Žygimantas Ramaška vs. Nathan Fletcher
