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Sean Brady picked up the biggest win of his career on Saturday, outworking Gilbert Burns for a unanimous decision victory at UFC Vegas 97. Where does this put Brady in the welterweight title picture, and where does Burns go from here after suffering his third straight loss?

Following Saturday’s Fight Night event, MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew is joined by E. Casey Leydon to break down all the biggest storylines following UFC Vegas 97, including Brady’s win and what it means for the rest of the welterweight division. Other topics discussed include Natalia Silva’s breakout win over Jessica Andrade, Matt Schnell’s unexpected retirement, one of the nastiest eye injuries you’ll ever see, some early evening referee controversy, and much more.

Catch the UFC Vegas 97 post-fight show above. An audio-only version of the show can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your pods.

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Usman Nurmagomedov is still the Bellator lightweight champion.

The 26-year-old returned to action for the first time in 11 months and retained his title with a unanimous decision win against Alexander Shabliy in the main event of Bellator San Diego — the first defeat for Shabliy in nearly eight years. This also marked Nurmagomedov’s first win since a victory over Brent Primus in October 2023 was overturned to a no-contest when Nurmagomedov tested positive for a banned substance and was subsequently suspended for six months.

Shabliy got off to a good start, landing a solid right hand as his best weapon. Nurmagomedov ended up getting underneath Shabliy to land a big takedown, but the challenger was able to get back up quickly. Shabliy continued to utilize patience with quick and crisp counter punches, while the champion used leg kicks as his best striking maneuver in a competitive first round.

With an intense Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, Usman continued to mix things up on the feet and with takedown attempts in Round 2, but Shabliy held his own in those departments. The third round was a slower-paced stanza, but Nurmagomedov landed several leg kicks that looked like were taking their toll.

Shabliy landed a beautiful combination in the fourth round, but then stuck his thumb directly in Nurmagomedov’s eye. To the champ’s credit, he got right back in there. Referee Mike Beltran issued a stern warning to Shabliy before the action resumed. With a little under two minutes to go in the round, the champion stung Shabliy with a head kick and looked for a submission, but Shabliy did a great job getting back to full guard.

Shabliy entered the fifth round needing a finish, but the sense of urgency didn’t seem to be there, much to the chagrin of the crowd in attendance. Nurmagomedov hung on to improve his record to 18-0, with one judge scoring it 50-45, and the other two scoring it 49-46 for the champ.

In the co-main event, Lorenz Larkin only needed 1:53 to become the No. 1 contender for the Bellator welterweight title, stopping Levan Chokheli in the first round.

The middleweight featured bout saw Aaron Jeffery defeat former welterweight champion Douglas Lima via unanimous decision. When the result was read, it was met with a chorus of boos from the San Diego crowd.

Get full Bellator San Diego results below.

Usman Nurmagomedov def. Alexandr Shabliy via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)

Lorenz Larkin def. Levan Chokheli via TKO – Round 1, 1:53 | Watch Finish

Aaron Jeffery def. Douglas Lima via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)

Sumiko Inaba def. Mackenzie Stiller via TKO – Round 2, 4:25

Jora Ayvazyan def. Yancy Medeiros via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Jordan Newman def. Imamshafi Aliev via unanimous decision (30-27 x3)

Masayuki Kikuiri def. Herman Terrado via TKO (body kick) – Round 3, 2:54

Bryce Meredith def. John MaCalolooy via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:15 | Watch Finish

Josh Hokit def. Sean Rose via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:58

Ashley Thiner def. Aysia Cortez via TKO – Round 2, 3:11

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Lorenz Larkin will finally get another crack at the Bellator welterweight title.

Larkin faced Levan Chokheli in the co-main event of Saturday’s Bellator San Diego card in what was billed as a No. 1 contender fight. As the fight was starting to get going early in the first round, Larkin clipped Chokheli with a right hand that had the Georgian fighter badly hurt. “Da Monsoon” continued to pour on the punishment until the referee had seen enough.

Check out video of the finish below.

Chokheli found success early when he caught a Larkin kick and got a takedown, but then made the decision to let the former UFC welterweight back up. That proved to be costly as Larkin would land the blow that was the beginning of the end for Chokheli.

The official stoppage came at 1:53 of the opening round.

With the victory, Larkin has won two straight, and is unbeaten in 10 of his past 11 appearances.

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Watch Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady full fight video highlights from their showdown Saturday night, courtesy of multiple outlets.

Burns vs. Brady took place Sept. 7 at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nev. Gilbert Burns (22-8) and Sean Brady (17-1) squared off in the main event clash. The fight aired live on pay-per-view on ESPN+.

Catch all the video highlights below.

For more on Burns vs. Brady, check out the live blog below.

Round 1

Both men out in orthodox and Brady looks to be the bigger man in there, despite being a former lightweight. He takes the center early as they both test the waters with kicks.

Brady lands the first good shot with a right hand following a jab. He’s showing a willingness to box early and appears to have faster hands. Burns looking for big overhands but hasn’t landed yet. Lands a short hook inside though and Burns keeps holding the center.

First takedown attempt! Brady stepped in and Burns changed levels with a clean double. He got through the hips but Brady got to the fence and go up after briefly touching down. Clinch battle and Brady lands a knee as he breaks.

Back in space and they get right back into a clinch with Brady pushing Burns back to the fence. Lots of infighting here but nothing substantive and Burns reverses position after some time.

More knees and short punches from both. Brady tries a trip but Burns is able to fend him off from getting position and stands. They get to space and Brady explodes with a combination of straight punches to back Burns up again. He’s definitely faster.

And inside the clinch, Brady finally gets a locked grip and trips Burns down. Burns back up but Brady still has that body lock. Burns digs an underhook and turns though and they end the round in a clinch with Burns pivoting the position.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Brady.

Round 2

OH! Burns lands a big overhand right at the start of the round and wobbles Brady! He’s not hurt, hurt, but he stumbled off and Burns jumped after him. Brady grabs a clinch though and gets Burns to the fence and we’re here again.

Now Brady trying to drop to a double and nearly gets it but Burns gets low and lifts him up. More clinch fighting as Burns turns the position and then breaks to space.

Brady not setting the world on fire with his striking, but he’s throwing fast combinations and Burns is covering up and retreating. Burns defending well but not a ton of offense. Now he sits down on a pair of big hooks but misses both and they end in a clinch.

Infighting and then a break and Burns swings a big hook on that break. He’s starting to whip those hooks in more now as Brady keeps collapsing the space and clinching. Brady has gas for days and looks to be using it.

And it pays off as Brady gets a double and runs the pipe to finish it for real. But Burns elevates with a hook and runs through to counter with his own takedown! Fun grappling but ends up moot as the get back to their feet and out to space.

Burns not unloading offense though and Brady keeps working with his jab and combinations. He’s edging these rounds out with activity and Brady gets better the longer the fight goes so Burns needs something to change this momentum.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Brady, 20-18 Brady overall.

Round 3

Right back to the same action as Brady moves and jabs, throws in combination, and Burns misses a few big hooks. If one of those connect, it could be ball game. But if they don’t, he’s losing this fight thus far.

Brady gets Burns to the fence again and he’s really putting the pace on him now. Relentless attacks with level chances and short shots. Burns doing fine to mitigate but not separate. And then he does but almost hitting a switch! Burns gets back to space off that though but Brady right back in his face with the jab, into the clinch.

Burns is able to get unders and turn him though, and tries for a single-leg but Burns hops out. They stay engaged though and Burns gets Brady back to the fence. Burns lands a solid right hook on the break but Brady gets in on a deep single-leg. Burns fends it off though. This is quite the pace from these two so far.

Burns misses a hook, Brady charges in with a combo and then Burns lands a nasty elbow. He’s throwing with heat in there now and lands a pair of knees as the clinch. Burns works through it and to space then Burns shoots and Brady nearly gives it up but just hips out of it.

Burns lands a big right as they exchange but Brady changes levels and he gets a clean takedown and gets top position as Burns gets his legs involved and nothing much happens.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Burns, 29-28 Burns overall.

Round 4

That round was a toss-up. I gave it to Burns for a few big shots in there but may well have been a Brady round.

Burns right back out to the center though and both men seems to be in good shape. But a low kick strays to the groin and we have a pause in the action while Burns takes a few minutes.

We return to action and oh well. Burns hits Brady low and so we have another break. And on replay, a suspicious man would say that was intentional as Burns’ leg went almost straight up. But oh well, we’re even now.

Brady take a few and we’re back to it. Burns once again in the center as Brady goes for the jab, right cross, volume and low kicks. Burns trying to time a big right hand but still no joy. Brady’s colume is slowing down though and neither man is clinching this round.

Brady lands a good left hook but moments later and Burns lands a right of his own finally. 5-punch combo from Brady lands lightly and now he moves into the clinch, putting Burns along the fence. Brady not landing much as he jockeys for position but Burns can’t break free. Exhausting style of fight, this.

Burns finally gets to space but Brady puts a combo on him then blast double with a clean finish into the fence. Brady pressuring down to hold position but Burns already working up to his feet. Brady staying on his lock though and trips Burns down. But Burns rolls to a leg and now Brady has to defend and as he does, Burns gets onto him with a takedown.

Brady up against the fence but Burns stays on him with a rear waistlock. Roll fails and we’re back to the fence. Burns then goes Hulk elevation for a finish but Brady pops up again and we stay clinching until the end of the round.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Brady, 39-37 Brady overall.

Round 5

Final round and it’s likely that Brady is ahead, though it’s not a certainty. Judging could get weird here so both men should try to finish strong.

Brady again with the combos but Burns is evading those now, or blocking them. He’s showing good defense, just not enough offense. Burns still slinging that right hand though.

No takedowns thus far though. Brady content to throw volume and Burns just kinda waiting for a window. Brady charges in and Burns throws a knee but the foot strays low so we get another stop in the action and Brady seems a bit upset.

When the action restarts, he certainly comes out firing and Burns retreats. Burns has simply thrown nothing this round. Legitimately we’re halfway through and he’s landed 1 strike.

OH! Burns landed a striker there! Jumping knee hits Brady but he eats it and now the clinch. Burns doesn’t want to be here though and he’s fights out more forcefully. In space Burns with a big right hand but Brady gets right back in on him and then drops for a single leg and finishes it cleanly.

Burns no in the center of the cage and has to lock up his guard as Brady looks to stand and pass. Burns is so tricky though and threatens an omoplata that gets him back to his feet. Brady staying on him though with a body lock against the fence and after some work dumps Burns to the mat.

Burns is always game but he seems to be fading. Burns does roll to a knee though as Brady tries to pass and Brady has to dive back down. Burns can’t stand though and Brady staying heavy on him as Burns keeps moving. With short time Burns finally stands up but then Brady dumps him back down just before the final bell and Brady collapses from exhaustion.

MMA Fighting scores the round 10-9 Brady, 49-46 Brady overall.

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Don’t mess with Chris Padilla’s elbows.

On Saturday evening at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Padilla faced Rongzhu in a lightweight fight at UFC Vegas 97, and “Taco” delivered the goods, stopping the Road to UFC Season 2 winner in the second round. It was a competitive matchup between the two until Padilla landed a standing elbow perfectly on Rongzhu’s eye socket, which immediately swelled up and left the Chinese fighter with a grotesque hematoma over his left eye.

Rongzhu attempted to protest the stoppage but with the massive swelling over his eye, the ringside doctor had no choice but to end the contest, awarding Padilla the first TKO victory of his UFC career.

The win moves Padilla to 2-0 in his UFC career, who afterward called for another Chinese fighter, Maheshate. Rongzhu, meanwhile, dropped to 1-3 in his UFC career, though this was the first loss of his second stint with the promotion, as he recently rejoined the UFC after winning the lightweight tournament on season 2 of Road to UFC.

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Douglas Lima wants to wear Bellator gold once again.

The three-time Bellator welterweight champion returns to the circular cage Saturday to face Aaron Jeffery in a middleweight clash at the Bellator Champions Series show in San Diego, Calif., and hopes to gain another shot at the 185-pound title with a win.

Lima heads into his first bout under the the new Bellator umbrella since PFL took over earlier this year, but said he hasn’t felt any difference in the promotion since.

“What matters to me is what happens in the cage, and that hasn’t changed,” Lima said. “I don’t care where it is. It could be in someone’s backyard or in the world’s biggest arena, we’re in the cage so it changes nothing to me. Lock us both in there and let us do our job.”

Jeffery, his opponent at the Pechanga Arena, has been victorious in 14 of 19 professional bouts, losing only to some of the world’s best, such as Sean Brady, Brendan Allen, Caio Borralho, and Fabian Edwards.

Lima has beaten the likes of Rory MacDonald, Michael Page, Andrey Koreshkov, Lorenz Larkin, and Paul Daley in 22 Bellator appearances, and rules out going back to welterweight unless the offer is too good to pass.

“It’s a tough fight, he’s good,” Lima said of Jeffery. “He throws hands and kicks in some fights, and wrestles in others. He did well against Edwards, it could have gone either way, He’s at the top and that’s exactly what I want. I wanna fight the best of the division so I can get to the top as quickly as possible. The belt is always the focus, so this fight will help get us there.”

The middleweight belt was expected to be on the line in the main event of Bellator London on Sept. 14, but the company announced earlier this week that Edwards’ rematch with champion Johnny Eblen has to be postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date due to undisclosed reasons.

“The goal is always to win a fight, no matter how,” Lima said of his upcoming match. “I need a submission, a knockout. It’s been a while since I have finished a fight, and that’s what I’m always going after. I saw [Jeffery’s] potential since his first fight in Bellator and knew he would go far in the sport. I know it’s a tough fight and I’ve trained as if it’s a title fight. The last guy he lost to is now fighting for the belt, so this fight will definitely help me get there.”

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Gilbert Burns is still ranked as one of UFC’s top welterweights and faces Sean Brady in Saturday’s main event, but he’s also smart enough to know that fighting can’t last forever.

After celebrating his 38th birthday in July, the one-time UFC title challenger acknowledged that the sand in his hourglass is eventually going to run out, which is why he’s putting his full focus on earning another shot at gold before it’s all over. Taking a page out of his teammate Michael Chandler’s playbook, Burns wants to make his impact felt over his next few fights before calling it a career.

“I’m not getting younger,” Burns told MMA Fighting. “I just turned 38. I feel great. Especially training with all these monsters at Kill Cliff FC, I feel great. I’ve got to test myself everyday with those younger, hungry guys. But the window is closing. It’s not open anymore.

“I believe I’m not here for a long time, I’m here for a good time. Saturday, Sept. 7, is going to be a good fight. I’m excited for that.”

Burns isn’t putting a number on the amount of fights he has left before retirement, and he’s not saying that he wants to be done by a certain age. But the Brazilian veteran also can’t ignore the reality of his situation — he’s been an active competitor across grappling and MMA for more than 20 years, and that kind of mileage adds up on anybody.

“I don’t know how many more fights I’ve got in me,” Burns said. “Because even before I started doing MMA, I’m doing jiu-jitsu for a while. Since I was 15 or 16, I was competing a lot. So it’s been very tough to keep up with the little injuries, the little stuff that before was [putting ice on it] and one [physical therapy session] and it was gone. Now it’s taking a little bit more. It’s a whole week for a little injury and get better. I’m training and I’m keeping up with that but it’s not been easy.

“I’m investing a lot of money in a cold plunge, sauna, physical therapy … that’s what I do all day. I train, I podcast once a week, and then other than that, recovery, training, recovery, massages, stretches, this and that, mobility, hyperbaric chamber, ice, sauna. That’s my life. I’ve got a couple more fights in me, but not a whole lot of fights in me. Again, I’m here to beat this guy, beat one more guy, get my title shot and get the title. You guys enjoy it while I’m here, because I’m not here for a long time.”

There’s an old adage in MMA that fighters need to retire from the sport before the sport retires them.

Burns subscribes to that philosophy because the last thing he wants to do is overstay his welcome and suffer the kinds of losses that transform him from a top-ranked contender to a cautionary tale for the next generation of athletes.

He looks at a current situation with former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who was once considered the biggest threat to Khabib Nurmagomedov but now sits with eight straight losses on his résumé and his UFC run likely at its end. Even with the struggles he’s faced lately, Ferguson remains committed to fighting whether he’s in the UFC or not.

“I won’t be in that situation,” Burns promised. “I saw the Matt Brown thing [about Ferguson] and I agree with him. I do believe this is a mental health issue that a lot of fighters have. We saw a lot of fighters, even my guy Dustin Poirier [saying], ‘I need a date! I need a date!’ Bro, you don’t need a date.

“You don’t need to fight. You want to fight. It’s different. It’s different when you need to fight and when you want to fight.”

Brown addressed Ferguson refusing to retire during a recent episode of MMA Fighting’s The Fighter vs. The Writer and chalked it up to the same reason why most athletes have such a hard time walking away from the sport. It all comes down to chasing the euphoric high that accompanies competing in UFC, because that’s the kind of rush nothing else can ever duplicate.

Burns understands how that feels, but he refuses to let the thrill of fighting potentially diminish his long-term health just because he refuses to stop.

“I like when Matt Brown said we’re chasing that adrenaline dump with the win, making the guy quit and have that arm raised and all that. We love that,” Burns said. “But we cannot get caught up in that, and I think I learned those lessons when I had those three fights in five months when I fought Neil Magny back in Brazil and I won, and then I fought [Jorge] Masvidal in April, and a couple weeks after I tried to fight Belal [Muhammad], and that was mental health that I think I had a little bit of an issue. I just beat Masvidal, not the way I wanted, and then I needed one more. I need to [feel] this again.

“Then when I got a fight with Belal, I kind of felt like I wasn’t at my best. I wasn’t peaking. I just peaked twice in a row. I wasn’t peaking. Once I got there, I got injured. It made me reflect a lot, working on psychology. Like, I want to have that adrenaline. It’s not that I want to win. I was just talking to myself, talking to my coaches, convincing everybody that I wanted to fight but at that moment, I wanted to have that feeling again. It’s kind of like an addiction.”

As he prepares to fight Brady this weekend, Burns truly believes he can get a dominant finish and set himself up for an even bigger matchup that would put him back into title contention in the near future.

But eventually Burns knows he’s going to have to make that call to end his career, and like it or not, that’s going to come sooner rather than later.

“I don’t have like 10 more fights in me,” Burns said. “I might have like five around that, maybe a little bit more fights, and I want to go in peace like Robbie Lawler did. We’ve been talking a lot and he said, ‘Go in peace.’ Whenever you don’t want to compete a lot more in the training, whenever you’re slowing down, that’s it. I’m not putting a date, I’m not putting a number of fights, but I’m going to try to go out the smart way.

“I go out there and I finish Sean Brady, it’s got to be a big fight [next]. It’s got to be a No. 1 contender fight. If I’ve got to wait, OK. If I’ve got to wait a little bit on Shavkat [Rakhmonov] and these guys are next, so give me Kamaru [Usman], give me Colby [Covington], give me whoever is there, Leon [Edwards], and then after that I want a title shot. That’s my goal.”

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Demetrious Johnson’s legendary MMA career has officially come to an end after the longtime UFC flyweight champion announced his retirement at ONE 168 on Friday night in Denver.

Following the announcement, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck and Jed Meshew react to the moment and discuss whether or not it was a surprise. Additionally, they break down the incredible UFC tenure of “Mighty Mouse,” his historic run as UFC flyweight champion and his 11 consecutive title defenses, discuss if that record will ever be broken, the major trade that sent Johnson to ONE for Ben Askren, if Johnson will get enshrined in the UFC Hall of Fame after delivering one of the all-time legendary careers in the octagon, and much more.

If you missed the show live, you can still watch above, or listen to the podcast version, which can be found below and on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your pods.

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Demetrious Johnson has called it quits for his MMA career. The UFC legend and ONE flyweight champion announced his decision Friday night at ONE 168 in Denver. See how the pros reacted below:

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Gilbert Burns and Jessica Andrade are two of the toughest gatekeepers in the business. They have their work cut out for them on Saturday.

In the main event of UFC Vegas 97, Burns looks to snap the first losing streak of his career when he takes on the highly touted Sean Brady. The welterweight veteran’s past two losses have been to a surging Jack Della Maddalena and future champion Belal Muhammad, results that are nothing to be ashamed of, though they could be indicative of where the 38-year-old Brazilian stands in the current pecking order.

It’s an order that Brady needs to disrupt further if he’s to truly reach his potential. The Philadelphia native has all the tools to be a champion and he reminded everyone just how good he can be with a drubbing of Kelvin Gastelum this past December. The top-5 of the division awaits him if he can get past Burns.

A similar narrative plays out in the co-main event as the white hot (ironically) “Natty Ice” gets her crack at Andrade. Natalia Silva is yet to lose in five UFC appearances and her crowd-pleasing style has her marked as a surefire title challenger. All she has to do tonight is beat the winningest woman in UFC history and one of the most accomplished finishers in any weight class.

In other main card action, Steve Garcia and Kyle Nelson put dueling win streaks on the line, Matt Schnell takes on short-notice opponent Cody Durden, and Trevor Peek throws down with Yanal Ashmouz in the lightweight opener.

What: UFC Vegas 97

Where: UFC APEX in Las Vegas

When: Saturday, Sept. 7. The seven-fight preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET on ESPN+, followed by a five-fight main card at 7 p.m. ET also on ESPN+.

(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and the MMA Fighting Pound-for-Pound Rankings)

Gilbert Burns (6) vs. Sean Brady (9)

I’m a firm believer that the Sean Brady who trucked Kelvin Gastelum is a truer reflection of his talents than the fighter that was humbled by Belal Muhammad. Besides, it turns out that ol’ Belal is really good!

Brady is an excellent all-rounder and, if anything, he needed that loss to Muhammad to show him how much farther he has to go to be considered an elite welterweight. Getting matched up with Gilbert Burns is throwing him right back into the fire, but he’s ready for it; frankly, if he isn’t now, he might never be.

Counting out Burns’ chances of upsetting Brady here doesn’t feel great, especially since I’m basing that decision more on Burns’ age (he turned 38 in July) and career wear-and-tear than any significant drop off in his performance. Don’t forget, he was up on two of the judges’ scorecards against Jack Della Maddalena before falling to the considerably younger fighter’s athleticism and power.

Brady can match Burns on the ground, he should have the speed advantage on the feet, and the difference in mileage between the two should be the difference in the championship rounds. After being pushed to the limit, Brady edges out a decision and takes his rightful place near the top of the welterweight ladder.

Pick: Brady

Jessica Andrade (14, P4P-14) vs. Natalia Silva (10)

Question: Will we see the Jessica Andrade that was good enough to win the UFC strawweight title once upon a time or the defensively suspect slugger that was finished in three straight fights not too long ago?

It might not matter given the rapid ascent of Natalia Silva, a standup menace who has already proven herself against stiff competition, including Viviane Araujo, Andrea Lee, and Jasmine Jasudavicius. She’ll have to have a ton of respect for Andrade’s power, given the list of bodies that “Bate Estaca” has left on the mat over the years.

Andrade could look to take this to the ground given that Silva is unproven there, but Silva projects as an elite sprawl-and-brawler. As long as she keeps this standing, I give her the edge.

Another question worth asking: Can Silva finish Andrade? It’s been a long time since Andrade has lost on the cards, but I think Silva is going to have to outlast the former UFC champion in this one.

Pick: Silva

Steve Garcia vs. Kyle Nelson

Finger of shame to my fellow Canadian for missing weight!

As we continue to wag our collective finger, let us also appreciate what Kyle Nelson has done in his past three fights, beating favored opposition in each one and even taking out Bill Algeo in under five minutes. He’s on a genuine roll that no one would have predicted when he was mired in a slump of just one win in six fights.

The blessings of the Great White North can only take you so far though and I think the good times come to an end Saturday when he runs into Steve Garcia. “Mean Machine” is a flat-out finishing machine and he thrives on chaos. He’ll draw Nelson into a dogfight whether he wants it or not and in that scenario, Garcia has more than enough bite to chomp down on another victory.

Nelson will hang in there for a round before Garcia turns up the heat in the second and smokes him.

Pick: Garcia

Matt Schnell vs. Cody Durden

Alessandro Costa was a popular choice to beat Matt Schnell inside the distance, but I don’t know what to think now with Cody Durden replacing Costa on less than a week’s notice.

Tip your cap to Durden’s team, this was a sly business move. Durden is eager to snap a two-fight skid and he must see the similarly slumping Schnell as an easy target. Schnell has a ton of skill and heart, but he’s never been known for his durability and Durden is undoubtedly looking to capitalize on that weakness.

Schnell is no stranger to fighting from behind, it might just be too much to ask him do so again at this stage of his career. He’ll have the benefit of a full camp, as well as the fact that Durden hasn’t exactly been a consistent finisher in the UFC. It shouldn’t surprise anyone if Schnell catches an overaggressive Durden in a submission.

I lean towards Durden relying on his wrestling to control Schnell and stifle his offense, burying him with pressure in Round 1 and finishing in the opening five minutes.

Pick: Durden

Trevor Peek vs. Yanal Ashmouz

Trevor Peek and Yanal Ashmouz both found themselves facing more technical opponents in their most recent fights and who asked for that? Credit to the matchmakers for course correcting and just throwing these two maniacs in the cage with each other.

I don’t want to see either of these dudes flashing their technical acumen, showing how they can perfectly control range to land teeps or how they use feints to set up fundamental 1-2 combinations. I want to see lightweight swangin’ and bangin’! Do the right thing, fellas. Go in there and just let it rip. And if I see one takedown, I will be very, very, very disappointed.

As far as a pick goes, do we ride with the unpredictable Peek and his penchant for fast finishes, or will Ashmouz eventually figure out Peek’s timing and find an opening for a decisive strike? One thing I’m confident about is that one of these fighters will be finished for the first time.

Ashmouz by knockout.

Pick: Ashmouz

Preliminaries

Chris Padilla def. Rongzhu

Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte

Felipe dos Santos def. Andre Lima

Gabriel Santos def. Yizha

Jaqueline Amorim def. Vanessa Demopoulos

Andre Petroski def. Dylan Budka

Nathan Fletcher def. Zygimantas Ramaska

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