This is the UFC Vegas 97 live blog for Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady, the welterweight main event this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Burns, a former Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champion, joined the UFC in 2014 and spent the first part of his career as a good but not great lightweight. Then “Durinho” moved back up to 170 pounds in 2019 and immediately went on the best run of his career, picking up four wins and earning a title shot against then-champion Kamaru Usman. Although Burns didn’t win, he’s been a mainstay in the top 10 welterweight division ever since. Recently, however, the 38-year-old has lost two fights in a row, raising the question of how much Burns has left in the tank.
When he joined the UFC in 2019, Brady was an undefeated up-and-coming fighter and had high expectations placed on him as one of the best up-and-coming welterweights in the world. He lived up to them from the start, winning his first five fights in the promotion. However, a loss to future champion Belal Muhammad halted Brady’s momentum, and he only began to catch up with a submission win over Kelvin Gastelum last December. Now Brady has a chance to prove he’s still in the title race in the 170-pound division by defeating a former title challenger on Saturday.
Check out the UFC Vegas 97 main event live blog below.
