Robert Whittaker Shares Prediction for Gilbert Burns vs. Sean Brady

Robert Whittaker recently revealed his pick for the upcoming UFC Fight Night headliner between Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady .

Burns takes on Brady in the main event at UFC Fight Night 242 at the Apex in Las Vegas on Saturday. Coming off a two-fight slump, Burns is an underdog going into the bout against Brady.

However, Whittaker had high praise for Burns while analyzing his upcoming fight. According to “Bobby Knuckles,” the Brazilian is one of the greatest MMA grapplers the sport has ever seen. Whittaker noted that Burns injured his shoulder in the first round of his UFC 288 loss to Belal Muhammad , who is the current champ. Whittaker further noted that Burns was winning his next outing against the surging Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 299 this past March before the Australian came from behind to score a knockout win in the last stanza. While Whittaker admits MMA is an unpredictable sport, he expects “Durinho” to upset the odds against Brady at UFC Fight Night 242 this weekend.

“I think Gilbert Burns is one of the best MMA grapplers of all time,” Whittaker said on The MMA Arcade podcast. “He is phenomenal in grappling, period. In terms of MMA grappling, I think he is one of the best of all time. The loss against Belal, he tore his shoulder cuff or whatever, it was in the first [round] he did and it was an ugly fight from then on. And he had also rushed getting into that fight, he took it like four weeks or three weeks right after… And then with the JDM fight, he was winning, until he wasn’t. But he was winning so I thought he was looking good up until that point in time. I don’t know, my money is on Burns. But crazier things have happened.”

Brady hasn’t fought since a submission win over Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Austin in December 2023 that saw him bounce back from his lone pro loss against Muhammad. Brady was scheduled to headline UFC Atlantic City opposite Vicente Luque this past March before an injury forced him out.

Meanwhile, Whittaker is gearing up for a highly anticipated potential middleweight title eliminator against Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 308 on Oct. 26 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.