UFC fighter Sean Brady put on a good show at the UFC London tournament as he destroyed former champion Leon Edwards.
Despite being called on short notice to replace Jack Della Maddalena, Brady made quite a statement as he proved to be the better fighter of the night. Edwards stepped into the cage with bold strikes and stayed on the attack. He continued to chip away at the opponents’ defenses before taking him down to the canvas and tried for a mount, but the round ended. Brady already had the upper hand at the beginning of the fight and continued his onslaught in the next round.
He went in for another takedown and began to land punches and body shots. Edwards tried to get on of the comprising position, but Brady got side control and went for a kimura but Edwards kept his defenses up while Brady continued with his ground and pound. The former champion was soon back on his feet and tried to recover by landing some punches, but it was already too late. Edwards went in for a takedown in round three, but Brady got the upper hand and soon had Edwards in a headlock. He continued to hammer his opponent with punches and shots, with Edwards offering zero resistance. Brady was quickly able to grapple his way into a guillotine choke that gave Edwards no choice but to submit.
“It feels amazing,” Brady said about the win. “To be honest, I literally took this fight the day after I got out the hospital with my wife with our newborn baby. I knew this was a fight I could do that in. I know I can do that against anybody in the division. I showed that against one of the most prestigious champions as of recently. I think I belong in the top three, top one for sure.”
“I said all week I wasn’t thinking about it, but it’s pretty f*cking cool knowing I’ll be ranked No. 1 on Monday or Tuesday,” Brady said. “But yeah, whatever Dana [White] and Hunter [Campbell want], these guys gave me an amazing opportunity to come out here.
“I love all the UK fans, sorry for doing that to your boy, nothing but respect for you guys. Whatever Hunter and Dana want from me next, that’s what we’re going to do but I got a couple weeks to go home and relax with my wife and newborn.”
Although Edwards put on a good fight, Brady says he can pinpoint the moment he knew the fight was going to be in his favor.
“Leon’s a very technical fighter, but when you make it a real hard fight, he tends to break, and I could see he was breaking,” Brady said in his post-fight press conference. “And I knew he broke once he shot at me because that’s the last place he wanted to be — on the ground with me. So once I knew he wanted to grapple with me, I knew it was going to be over soon.”
“Leon’s a pretty striker. He likes to have his range and have things go on his terms,” the Philadelphia native added, “and once they start going off his terms, he does dumb s*** like shoot on me, and then it goes downhill from there.”
The loss marks Edwards second consecutive loss and his first submission loss. Prior to his bout with Brady. Edwards lost his title to Belal Muhammad after a five round slugfest at UFC 304. The fighter was on track to get another title shot but his loss to Brady may have set him back. Brady on the other hand is still reeling with excitement from his victory and believes he did a better job beating “Rocky” than Muhammad.
“I did it a lot better than Belal did,” Brady said with a laugh. “I think Belal lost a couple rounds, he had his back taken for an entire round, I think it was 3-2 when they fought. I dominated Leon every round. No one’s ever done it like me. Then I submitted him and made him quit in front of his hometown. If we were in Philly, you ain’t making me quit in front of my hometown, I’ll tell you that. I’m going to sleep, son. So just remember that.”
Following his win, Brady is in great position for the title shot, which will offer him an opportunity to redeem himself after his previous loss to Muhammad.
