5 things to watch out for at UFC Fight Night: Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady

The UFC returns this weekend with a Fight Night event at the Las Vegas APEX. Unlike some of these events, this one has plenty to look forward to.

UFC Fight Night: Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady has a number of high-level fights on offer, and plenty of intriguing things to keep an eye on.

Whether these fights deliver some good action, of course, remains to be seen, but we can only hope.

Here are five things to watch out for at UFC Fight Night: Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady.

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#5 Ryan Spann and Ovince St. Preux will hope to steal the show from the prelims

It's probably fair to say that the card order for this weekend's event is more than a little curious.

That's because the main card features lesser talents such as Trevor Peek and Rong Zhu, while the preliminary portion features two fighters more used to headlining UFC events.

Both Ryan Spann and Ovince St. Preux have fallen on hard times, this is true. Spann has lost his last three fights, while St. Preux has seen more losses than wins since hitting a slide during the pandemic years.

However, both men do tend to put on exciting fights, particularly Spann. 'Superman' has only gone the distance three times, win or lose, in an octagon run encompassing 12 fights.

With both men having some name value left, then, why are they buried so far down this card? It's honestly hard to say.

However, if they want to climb back up the card, then it's likely that both men will want to fight hard this weekend. If they deliver their best, then this one could steal the show early on.

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#4 Is Matt Schnell washed up?

The UFC's flyweight division often receives arguably unfair criticism for not producing the most exciting fights. That accusation cannot be levelled at Matt Schnell, however.

'Danger' has never climbed into title contention at 125 pounds during his eight-year octagon tenure. However, he's always been a staple of the division thanks to his ability to produce wild fights.

In fact, it's hard to remember him being involved in a dull bout.

Unfortunately, it's beginning to feel like his exciting style might be catching up to him. Schnell has now lost three of his last four fights, and has been knocked out in violent fashion in his last two.

Even his lone win in this run, a submission of Su Mudaerji, saw him take serious damage before he produced a thrilling comeback.

This weekend will tell us a lot about whether 'Danger' is washed up. He's faced with an opponent in Alessandro Costa who, while talented, is probably not quite as dangerous as Steve Erceg or Matheus Nicolau.

Schnell isn't likely to change his approach at this point. Therefore, if he ends up suffering another bad loss, it'll probably be a fair indicator of where his future lies - and that future could well be pointing towards retirement.

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#3 Can Natalia Silva break through the glass ceiling against Jessica Andrade?

This weekend's co-headliner will pit a strong prospect against one of the UFC flyweight division's most dangerous gatekeepers.

Jessica Andrade is arguably past her prime at this stage. We're now five years removed from her reign as strawwweight champion, even if it doesn't feel that long ago.

However, 'Bate Estaca' is still a remarkably dangerous fighter at 115 pounds and now at 125 pounds, and she's well used to crushing the momentum of prospects looking to ascend the ladder.

Natalia Silva is the latest prospect looking to test herself against the veteran. The Brazilian is unbeaten in the octagon at 5-0 and has produced some thrilling finishes along the way.

Ranked at No.8 in the division, a win for Silva here would launch her directly into title contention, meaning this fight has big stakes. But can she really beat Andrade? Realistically, she's never fought anyone close to this level before.

Given that a win would see her smash through the glass ceiling at 125 pounds, this fight has a lot riding on it, making it one of the weekend's most intriguing.

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#2 Gilbert Burns will be fighting to stay relevant in the UFC

The fighter with the most to lose this weekend is probably Gilbert Burns. While he's still considered one of the UFC's best welterweights, his upcoming fight with Sean Brady could represent a crossroads of sorts for him.

A win for 'Durinho' would see him retain his top six ranking at 170 pounds, and it'd also mean more big fights and solid payouts for him in the future. Sure, another title shot is unlikely, but he'd at least keep his head above the water.

A loss, though, would be the third in a row for the now-38 year old Brazilian, and it'd also mark his second defeat in a row to a highly-touted prospect.

If that were to happen, then it'd be hard for Burns to really stay relevant in the welterweight division, especially with his last win coming over Jorge Masvidal, who is now retired.

In fact, if he were to be finished by Brady, there would probably be plenty of fans calling for him to follow 'Gamebred' and hang up his gloves too.

Therefore, you could say that this is the most important fight for 'Durinho' since his unsuccessful shot at Kamaru Usman's welterweight title way back in 2021. Put simply, he needs to win.

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#1 Can Sean Brady's one-dimensional approach move him into title contention?

There are very few specialist fighters still competing at the top of the UFC these days, and even fewer specialist grapplers.

Welterweight contender Sean Brady, though, is one of the exceptions to that rule.

Everyone knows what the Philadelphia native wants to do. He looks to use his high-level wrestling to drag his foes to the ground, where he dominates them with a heavy top game, usually ending with a submission or a clear-cut decision win.

Despite this one-dimensional approach, Brady has been remarkably successful thus far. He's climbed into the top ten at 170 pounds, and holds wins over Kelvin Gastelum and Michael Chiesa. His only loss came to current UFC champ Belal Muhammad.

Even though he's found success thus far, though, there are still nagging doubts over his approach, particularly whether it'll work against the division's very best fighters.

If he can beat Gilbert Burns - one of the few fighters probably able to match his grappling chops - then it'd send a very serious message that despite his one-dimensional nature, Brady can contend for the UFC title.

If he ends up losing as he did to Muhammad, though, then it'd be worth him considering whether some time away to really hone his stand-up game is needed.

It's probably the biggest question hanging over this weekend's show, and it makes the headliner very intriguing indeed.