Two fighters who'd fallen short of the top tier in the UFC's welterweight division spent their Saturday night trying to avoid another slip.

Sixth-ranked Gilbert Burns and eighth-ranked Sean Brady -- each of whom had been beaten by new 170-pound king Belal Muhammad -- faced off atop a 12-bout card at the Apex in Las Vegas with relevance on their minds.

Now 38 years old, Burns was just 3-3 in six fights since a failed title shot against then-champ Kamaru Usman in 2021, including a unanimous decision loss to Muhammad on the UFC 288 show in May 2023.

He'd fought once since and was stopped in three rounds by surging contender Jack Della Maddalena, now ranked fourth, in March.

Meanwhile, Brady was 15-0 as a pro when he encountered Muhammad at UFC 280 in October 2022 and was finished in two. He'd also fought once since and got back in the winning column with a third-round submission of Kelvin Gastelum last December.

B/R's combat team was in position to take in the main event and each of the other 11 fights and delivered a real-time list of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at our picks and drop your thoughts in the comments.

Winner: The New Guard

It's changing of the guard time near the top of the welterweight ranks.

Eighth-ranked contender Sean Brady may have permanently ended the championship hopes of popular Brazilian export Gilbert Burns, peppering him with consistent strikes and staying consistently aggressive in Saturday's five-round main event bout.

The 31-year-old Philadelphian was rewarded with a unanimous decision by scores of 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 improving his UFC record to 7-1 and winning his second straight fight since a lone career loss to now-reigning champ Belal Muhammad.

That loss was in 2022 and came after Brady had opened his career with 15 straight wins. He returned after the slip-up to defeat former title challenger Kelvin Gastelum by third-round submission on a Fight Night show nine months ago.

Brady scored seven takedowns against Burns, and, though he never got near a position where ending the fight seemed imminent, his consistent activity was more than enough to deal with his skidding foe – who's now lost three straight fights.

Brady landed 134 significant strikes to Burns' 39 and had more than 10 minutes of positional control time compared to less than three for Burns.

"Gilbert is a tough mother f---er, but I knew that coming in," said Brady, who suggested that superior cardio was part of his game plan. "Five fives in the gym is a lot different than five fives in here, but I'm living my dream. This is amazing."

Burns' loss was his fourth in seven fights since an unsuccessful challenge of then-champ Kamaru Usman in 2021. He was ranked sixth entering the fight and could exchange places with Brady, who was crystal clear about his future objectives.

"I want somebody in the top five," he said, "but if not, me and (seventh-ranked) Ian (Machado Garry) have the same manager. Let's run that sh-t."

Winner: The New Boss

The contrast was as clear as could be.

Jessica Andrade is a former UFC champion, a winner of more fights than any woman in the promotion's history, and a genuine menace when it comes to punching power.

Meanwhile, Natalia Silva was a relative newcomer with just five octagonal fights, and a style that leans far more on speed and technique than blunt trauma.

On Saturday night anyway, the latter approach was the successful one.

Silva, five years younger at 27, was a precise striker and an elusive target for nearly every moment of 15 minutes, continually peppering her older foe from distance and eluding prolonged danger on the way to a hard-earned but clear decision win.

"A contender has emerged," analyst Michael Bisping said. "That is for sure."

Silva arrived ranked eighth in the flyweight division to Andrade's sixth, but those positions are likely to switch come next week's updated rankings after she was awarded the verdict by three shutout scores of 30-27.

"I am so emotional," said Silva, who was fighting with the memory of an older sister who died four months ago. "This fight was very important to me."

It prolonged an overall win streak to 12 straight since 2017, too, and had her suggesting to the promotional brass that she's ready for a title try.

"Dana, I came here to be a champion," Silva said. "I want that shot."

Winner: Resilient Violence

Steve Garcia was in a bad, bad way.

The featherweight slipped to the canvas while attempting a kick in the opening seconds against Kyle Nelson and quickly found himself on the floor with the Canadian ground ace on his back and looking to work his way to a finish.

For about two minutes, it looked dire at best.

But then Garcia, as unlikely as it seemed, took over. He spun out of Nelson's dominant position and instantly into a top mount of his own, from which he began a torrent of punches and elbows that had Nelson shelling up in defense.

The onslaught didn't stop, and Nelson wasn't able to escape, however, and a particularly hard left elbow along the fence prompted an end by TKO at 3:59 of the first.

It was a fifth straight win by KO for the 32-year-old, who's 17-5 as a pro and 6-2 in the UFC since 2020. Nelson had won three in a row but fell to 4-5-1 in the promotion.

"One of our streaks had to end tonight and it wasn't going to be mine," Garcia said. "You've got to be violent in here. This is a sport. If you want to play pitter patter, I'm not that guy."

Winner: Saturday Night Special

The week has been nothing if not eventful for Cody Durden.

The 33-year-old Georgian didn't have a slot on Saturday's card until four days before the opening glove tap, when he slid in as a late substitute to take on fellow ranked flyweight Matt Schnell in an over-the-weight match at 135 pounds.

And even though the back-and-forth nature of the first round might have gone against him, he was quickly ready to right the ship – which he did by securing a submission by anaconda choke after just 29 seconds of Round 2.

The sequence was set up by Schnell's aggression, which saw him dive in with a double-leg takedown attempt. Durden sprawled to elude the try and wrapped his right arm around his foe's neck while doing so. He then locked in with the left arm and rolled, preventing any escape and eliciting a tap.

"Me and my wife went out Sunday night and I had a little too much to drink, but I backed it up in here tonight," Durden said. "I learned from my last fight (a second-round loss to Bruno Silva) that the best fighter doesn't always win, but the best fighter always wins in the long run. So, I had to step back in here and claim my victory."

Winner: Method over Mayhem

Trevor Peek was clearly more dangerous than his main-card opponent.

He'd KO'd eight of nine professional victims heading into Saturday night and was particularly menacing with a piercing stare and wide, powerful haymaker blows.

But Yanal Ashmouz had technique on his side.

The Israeli lightweight eluded Peek's big shots and countered with methodical, persistent pressure, scoring nine takedowns and keeping his man under control for better than eight minutes on the way to a competitive but deserved decision win.

One judge gave Ashmouz all three rounds – matching the B/R card – and the other two saw it 2-1 in his favor, proving an eighth win in nine pro fights and a second in three UFC appearances.

"We knew he's an aggressive guy and he comes forward all the time," Ashmouz said. "So, we wanted to be prepared with the takedowns. That was the plan, and it worked.

"I wanted the knockout, but it doesn't always go according to plan. I won and that's all that matters."

Loser: Asian Arrivals

Asia is rapidly becoming a hotbed for professional MMA.

And the UFC has made inroads in the continent's second-most populous country.

But China's Saturday night fortunes weren't so prodigious thanks to losses by both its one-name exports – Rongzhu and Yizha – on the preliminary card.

The second-round TKO loss laid on Rongzhu by Chris Padilla was particularly brutal, coming at 4:14 after a right elbow landed to the favorite's eye created a sickening golf-ball sized swelling on the eyelid that prompted a stoppage by the cage-side doctor.

It was the 24-year-old's first fight in a second stint in the UFC. He was 1-2 in a three-fight run between April 2021 and February 2022, then won three straight as part of the regional "Road to UFC" competition to earn a return trip to the octagon.

Three fights earlier, Yizha was rugged and resilient but not active enough on the way to dropping a unanimous nod to hot Brazilian prospect Gabriel Santos.

It was an 11th win in 13 fights for Santos, who trains with former lightweight champ Charles Oliveira, while Yizha has lost two straight in the UFC after a 5-0 "Road to UFC" record.

Winner: Completing the Job

Having an unbeaten record does not ensure long-term UFC success.

Still, it's going well so far for Andre Lima.

The 25-year-old Brazilian flyweight was only a slight favorite against countryman and fellow São Paulo representative Felipe dos Santos, but he looked prohibitive across the last 10 minutes on the way to a unanimous decision victory.

An accomplished kickboxer, Lima transitioned from a strike-first approach in the first round to a mat-heavy strategy across the last two and ultimately secured 29-28 verdicts on two scorecards and a clean-sweep 30-27 on the third.

Dos Santos wound up with 69-43 and 38-18 edges in overall and significant strikes, respectively, but Lima was successful on both of his two takedown tries, kept his opponent under positional control for exactly nine minutes and chased rear-naked choke finishes down the stretch.

It was his 10th straight victory as a pro and third in a row in the UFC.

"I'm a striker at heart, but this is MMA," Lima said, "you have to be fully complete."

Loser: Post-Fight Process

One way or another, Vanessa Demopoulos makes it memorable.

The Las Vegas-based strawweight had followed previous UFC victories with leaps into the arms of post-fight interviewers Joe Rogan and Michael Bisping, but her Saturday night showdown with jiu-jitsu ace Jaqueline Amorim had a decidedly different follow-up feel.

The 35-year-old protested in every direction possible that Amorim was maintaining position by sinking fingers into her right glove as they grappled near the fence, and she continued to complain moments later after the fight ended with an armbar.

The claims went unanswered, though, and the Brazilian was deemed an official winner by submission at 3:28 of the first round.

It was Amorim's eighth finish in nine pro wins and her seventh submission, raising her UFC record to 3-1 while her opponent dropped to 5-3 in the octagon and was beaten inside the distance for the first time in her seven-year career.

"I was surprised (it happened so quickly)," Amorim said. "But I'm not just here to win, I'm here to finish."

Full Card Results

Main Card

Sean Brady def. Gilbert Burns by unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 49-46)

Natalia Silva def. Jessica Andrade by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Steve Garcia def. Kyle Nelson by TKO (elbows), 3:59, Round 1

Cody Durden def. Matt Schnell by submission (anaconda choke), 0:29, Round 2

Yanal Ashmouz def. Trevor Peek by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Preliminary Card

Chris Padilla def. Rongzhu by TKO (elbow), 4:14, Round 2

Isaac Dulgarian def. Brendon Marotte by submission (arm triangle), 4:19, Round 2

Andre Lima def. Felipe dos Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

Gabriel Santos def. Yizha by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)

Jaqueline Amorim def. Vanessa Demopoulos by submission (armbar), 3:28, Round 1

Andre Petroski def. Dylan Budka by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Nathan Fletcher def. Zygimantas Ramaska by submission (armbar), 1:14, Round 2