Matches to Make After UFC Fight Night 242

Sean Brady desires another crack at the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight elite.

The Daniel Gracie protégé further distanced himself from his October 2022 loss to Belal Muhammad with a workmanlike five-round unanimous decision over Gilbert Burns in the UFC Fight Night 242 main event on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Brady swept the scorecards with 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 marks from the cageside judges. Burns had his moments, but they were too few and far between to afford him any leeway. Brady attacked the Kill Cliff Fight Club mainstay with high-volume standup, a grinding clinch and timely takedowns. When blended together, it proved to be a toxic recipe. Brady salted away the victory with a strong fight round, where he pieced together effective punching combinations and completed a pair of takedowns across the final two minutes.

In the aftermath of UFC Fight Night 242 “Burns vs. Brady,” here are five matches that ought to be made:

Sean Brady vs. Ian Garry: Sometimes, a man deserves to get what he wants. Brady improved to 17-1 overall and 7-1 in the UFC with his unanimous decision over the well-regarded Burns, as the former Cage Fury Fighting Championships titleholder was credited with landing nearly 200 more total strikes in the five-round affair. In addition, the heavily tattooed Philadelphian piled up more than 10 minutes of control time at Burns’ expense. Afterward, Brady took aim at Garry. The undefeated 26-year-old Irishman last strapped on the gloves at UFC 303, where he was awarded a unanimous verdict over ex-Bellator MMA lynchpin Michael Page on June 29. Already one of the UFC’s more polarizing figures, Garry has gone the distance in each of his past three outings—wins over Page, Geoff Neal and Neil Magny.

Natalia Silva vs. Erin Blanchfield-Rose Namajunas winner: Silva outstruck Jessica Andrade to a unanimous decision in their three-round women’s strawweight co-main event, firmly establishing herself as a future title contender at 115 pounds. All three cageside judges scored it 30-27 for the ascending Team Borracha standout. Andrade marched forward with her trademark aggression and accomplished surprisingly little, outside of a few left hooks and straight rights. Silva picked her apart with an educated jab, kept the former champion off-balance with side kicks to the body and head, leaned on stellar lateral movement and stayed upright behind bulletproof takedown defense. Andrade never stopped pressing the issue but had no answer for her countrywoman’s superior hand speed and diverse set of standup skills. Silva, 27, has posted 12 straight victories. Blanchfield faces Namajunas in the UFC Fight Night 246 co-headliner on Nov. 2.

Steve Garcia vs. Edson Barboza: The surging Garcia buried an overweight Kyle Nelson with an elbow strike and follow-up punches in the first round of their featherweight feature. Nelson—who missed weight by 2.5 pounds—succumbed to blows 3:59 into Round 1. Garcia waded through some initial adversity. Nelson tripped him to the floor off a caught kick inside the first 30 seconds, wheeled to the back, secured his position with hooks and alternated between ground-and-pound and rear-naked chokes. Garcia withstood those efforts, turned to face him inside guard, answered an attempted armbar with a hellacious burst of hammerfists and continued to batter the Canadian. Nelson moved to a seated position at one point, only to be met with a crushing elbow that forced him into a defensive shell. Unanswered punches followed, prompting the stoppage. Garcia has won five fights in a row, all of them finishes. Now one of the sport’s preeminent gatekeepers, the ferocious Barboza has not suited up since he dropped a unanimous decision to Lerone Murphy at UFC Fight Night 241 on May 18.

Cody Durden vs. Tim Elliott: Durden stepped in for Alessandro Costa on less than a week’s notice and proceeded to dismiss Matt Schnell with a ninja choke in the second round of their bantamweight showcase. Schnell checked out 29 seconds into Round 2. Durden went toe-to-toe and exchanged power punches with the Fortis MMA export throughout the first five minutes. By the time the first round was over, both men were bleeding from cuts near their eyes. Durden sprawled on an ill-advised takedown attempt from the former Legacy Fighting Championship titleholder at the start of the middle stanza, clamped down on the choke and tightened his squeeze when his counterpart tried to roll free. Once it became clear all avenues of escape had been cut off, Schnell had no choice but to capitulate. Elliott has rattled off five wins in seven outings and last appeared at UFC Fight Night 233, where he choked Su Mudaeri unconscious with a first-round arm-triangle on Dec. 9.