The UFC is back Saturday night after a week away, and has a highly anticipated Welterweight matchup between No. 6 Gilbert Burns (22-7) vs. No. 8 Sean Brady (16-1) in the main event. Burns is returning after suffering two losses in a row to Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammed and most recently at UFC 299 to Jack Della Maddalena. Brady is making his first appearance in 2024 after submitting Kelvin Gastelum nine months ago.
The co-main event features two Brazilians, former Women’s Flyweight Champion No. 6 Jessica Andrade is taking on No. 8 Natalia Silva. Andrade is on a two-fight win streak after being finished three streak times during the first half of 2023. Silva is on an 11-fight win streak with the last five of them coming in the UFC.
Instead of the normal start time, UFC Vegas 97 will take place three hours earlier, with the Main Card starting at 7:00 P.M. ET. The Prelims will start at 4:00 P.M. ET. The main card and the prelims will both be airing live on ESPN+. Brady is a -185 favorite, while Burns is the underdog at +154 on DraftKings Sportsbook. Silva is the -298 favorite against Andrade who is a big +240 underdog on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here are my best two best bets for tomorrow’s UFC Fight Night taking place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sean Brady to win the fight by TKO/KO/DQ or Submission (+240)
Brady is 6-1 in his UFC career and has three finishes in his past four wins. He submitted veteran Kelvin Gastelum in the third round of their fight in December 2023. Brady is a more accurate striker, lands more significant strikes per minute, and has a 61% defensive rate while Burns’s is at 54%. Burns has been a mainstay of the UFC’s Welterweight division while only suffering five losses since 2017.
Although Burns is a tough fighter to finish, he has been stopped in three of his previous five losses. Burns has never been submitted in his ten-year, 22-fight UFC career but if anyone can do it I strongly believe that Brady is primed to get the job done.
Steve Garcia moneyline (-185)
The 32-year-old, Garcia is entering the octagon on a four-fight win streak in the UFC. Garica has knocked out each of his previous four opponents in either the first or second round. Early in his career, Garcia was in Bellator where he was 5-2 before making his way to the UFC. 16 of his professional victories have come by way of knockout.
Garcia is facing Canada’s own Kyle Nelson who will be making his 10th walk to the octagon in his career. Nelson is unbeaten in his last four fights, most recently defeating Bill Alego in May 2024. Garcia has a four-inch advantage in the reach department while being an inch taller than Nelson. Garcia is a more efficient striker as well, landing 56% of his significant strikes. If this fight stays on the feet, it heavily favors Garcia and he has a good chance of winning the fight by finish.
Below is the entire card for UFC Fight Night 97 featuring No. 6 Burns vs. No. 8 Brady in the Main Event.
Full Card for UFC Vegas 97: Burns vs. Brady
Main Card:
Main event: Welterweight Bout
No. 6 Gilbert Burns vs. No. 8 Sean Brady
Women’s Flyweight Bout:
No. 6 Jessica Andrade vs. No. 8 Natalia Silva
Featherweight Bout:
Steve Garcia (16-5, 5-2 UFC) vs. Kyle Nelson (16-5-1, 4-4-1 UFC)
Flyweight Bout:
Matt Schnell (16-8, 6-5-1 UFC) vs. Cody Durden (16-6-1, 5-4-1 UFC)
Lightweight Bout:
Trevor Peek (9-2, 2-2 UFC) vs. Yanal Ashmouz ( 7-1, 1-1 UFC)
Prelims:
Lightweight Bout:
Rongzhu (25-5, 1-2 UFC) vs. Chris Padilla (14-6, 1-0 UFC)
Featherweight Bout:
Issac Dulgarian (6-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Brendan Marotte ( 8-2, 0-1 UFC)
Flyweight Bout:
Felipe dos Santos (8-1, 1-1 UFC) vs. Andre Lima (9-0, 2-0 UFC)
Featherweight Bout:
Yizha (25-4, 0-1 UFC) vs. Gabriel Santos (10-2, 0-2 UFC)
Women’s Strawweight Bout:
Jaqueline Amorim (8-1, 2-1 UFC) vs. Vanessa Demopoulos (11-5, 5-2 UFC)
Middleweight Bout:
Andre Petroski (11-4, 6-2 UFC) vs. Dylan Budka (7-3, 0-1 UFC)
Featherweight Bout:
Zygimantas Ramaska (9-2) vs. Nathan Fletcher (8-1)
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