Sean
Brady dominated Leon
Edwards in a way no previous opponent had — and that includes
reigning
UFC welterweight champion Belal
Muhammad.
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The Renzo
Gracie Philly product earned a signature victory in the
UFC London headliner on Saturday when he submitted Edwards with
a fourth-round guillotine choke at the O2 Arena. It was the
Englishman’s second straight defeat after he previously
relinquished the welterweight crown to Muhammad at UFC 304 last
July. Brady was the first person to finish Edwards in 28
professional bouts.
“I think I did a lot better than Belal did. I think Belal lost a
couple of rounds. He had his back taken for an entire round. I
think it was 3-2 when they fought,” Brady said at the UFC London
post-fight press conference. “I dominated Leon every round. No
one’s ever did 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. Just
remember that.”
Heading into UFC London, Edwards fulfilled his media obligations by
offering various reasons for his loss to Muhammad. According to
Brady, his opponent might have been a little to focused on a
potential rematch with the reigning champion than he was on the
task at hand.
“I think he was too worried about Belal,” Brady said. “He was too
worried about how tall I am, he was too worried about a bunch of
other things that didn’t matter, and it showed tonight. He got
smoked. He should’ve been more focused on this fight.”
Brady has won 18 of his 19 professional fights. His lone loss came
against Muhammad in October 2022, and that defeat continues to look
better with time. Muhammad, who is unbeaten in his last 11 Octagon
appearances, is scheduled to make his first 170-pound title defense
against Jack
Della Maddalena in the UFC 315
headliner this May.
“If you look at Belal’s record, he has an amazing record. He has me
on there. He has a lot of good guys on there. People just s—t on me
for losing to him —it is what it is — but that loss was the best
thing that ever happened to me. Clearly, I’m on a nice little run
here and who’s the last person to finish Leon? Me. I’m doing pretty
good.
“I’ve been rooting for Belal since he beat me. Of course. The
better he does, the better it makes my loss look to him. He went
out and beat Leon and now he’s fighting Jack — which Jack is a
super tough fight. I was getting ready for Jack for our fight
before when I had to pull out and I know how good he is, and Jack
can knock anybody out in the world. But you can’t bet against
Belal. He finds ways to win, and I think he’s going to win that
one. Of course, I want him to be champion when we fight again but
if for some reason he does lose, I would fight him for a No. 1
contender. There’s options out there.”
Brady has won three straight fights since his loss to Muhammad.
It’s currently unclear if he would be the next No. 1 contender
since Shavkat
Rakhmonov was expected to challenge for the belt at UFC 315
before it was determined that he wouldn’t be able to compete at the
event due to injury.
“Is the statement coming in here and beating Leon in his hometown?
I think so,” Brady said. “If you look at Ian [Garry’s] last
performance and Shavkat wasn’t great. Jack’s fight before that, he
was losing to Gilbert Burns before he wasn’t. I just dominated
Gilbert Burns. I just dominated Leon
Edwards. So I think I’m right there.
“I mean I don’t make those calls, the UFC does. But I think if you
look at the people I’ve been beating versus Shavkat, I think I have
a pretty good [argument]. Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards, my last
two versus his last two I think were ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen
Thompson] and Ian Garry. I got a nice little record going. I
just want to keep adding names to my resume and we’ll see what
happens.”