Welterweights
#5 WW | Gilbert Burns (20-5, 13-5 UFC) vs. #12 WW | Neil Magny (27-9, 20-8 UFC)After a surprising rise through the welterweight ranks, it looks like Burns is not going away anytime soon. A decorated grappler who came to the UFC early in his mixed martial arts career, Burns went through the expected growing pains as he attempted to shore up his wrestling and striking. That led to an inconsistent career at lightweight full of highs and lows—Burns could wallop Jason Saggo and Dan Moret, only to get run over by Dan Hooker—that eventually petered out. He found trouble getting some fights, as he was considered a dangerous opponent despite his spotty success. Out of necessity more than anything else, Burns stepped in on late notice for a welterweight bout against Alexey Kunchenko in August 2019, at which point it was off to the races. With his thickly built frame, the lesser weight cut unlocked plenty of power and cardio for Burns, who suddenly found himself as an effective bully who could put multiple rounds of pressure on his opponents. It took all of nine months for Burns to rack up wins over Kunchenko, Gunnar Nelson, Demian Maia and Tyron Woodley to mark himself as welterweight’s top contender, though the pandemic delayed his actual title shot a bit longer. Burns had a strong showing early against then-champion and former training partner Kamaru Usman before getting finished in the third round, and he has rebounded by proving himself to still be among the divisional elite. He was the first person in a good while to firmly outwrestle Stephen Thompson, and while he came out on the losing end of an April bout against Khamzat Chimaev, it was a three-round war in which both men proved a great deal. Burns has had trouble finding fights since, which in the welterweight division means one thing: it is time for Magny to step up and take the fight that nobody else wants.
Magny has settled into a niche that has been both entertaining and necessary, stepping in wherever possible to sort out who is ready for success at 170 pounds. Magny had the good fortune to come to the UFC in 2013 just as the promotion was expanding its roster and schedule, which earned “The Haitian Sensation” enough leeway to overcome a rough start until things suddenly clicked into place; and click they did. A 2014 win over Gasan Umalatov kicked off a stretch of 10 victories in 11 fights, all of which Magny somehow managed to pack into a shade over two years. With the sense that his success was built on quantity rather than his quality of wins, Magny became a common opponent for fighters to call out, but he has proven to be a tricky test more often than not. Magny uses his considerable reach to frustrate his opponents from range, luring them into the clinching realm where he is surprisingly strong and stout. Of course, the whole approach falls apart if an opponent can dominate Magny in one of those two areas, which recently has come in the clinch. Michael Chiesa overpowered Magny over five rounds, while Shavkat Rakhmonov ran through him and scored a submission in June. That figures to be what happens here, as Burns is the right combination of relentless as a striker and powerful as a wrestler to shred through Magny. Still, it will be fun to see if Magny can put up any sort of resistance. The pick is Burns via first-round submission.
Jump To »
Teixeira vs. Hill
Figueiredo vs. Moreno
Burns vs. Magny
Andrade vs. Murphy
Walker vs. Craig
The Prelims