Sean Brady made history by becoming the first fighter to defeat Leon Edwards by finish, submitting him with a guillotine choke in the fourth round of their UFC London main event. This victory was even more decisive than Belal Muhammad`s win against Edwards eight months prior, where Muhammad secured a decision after five rounds to become the welterweight champion.
During Saturday`s fights, Muhammad commented on Twitter about Brady`s grappling-heavy approach against Edwards, jokingly saying, “Sean copied my homework.” This was a reference to Muhammad`s own strategy when he faced Edwards.
Brady quickly responded to Muhammad, pointing out the different outcomes of their respective fights against Edwards.
“I think my performance was much better than Belal’s,” Brady stated at the UFC London post-fight press conference. “Belal, I believe, lost a couple of rounds and had his back taken for an entire round. I think it was a 3-2 fight when they fought. I dominated Leon in every round. Nobody has ever done what I did. Then I submitted him and made him quit in front of his home crowd.”
Brady added, “If we were in Philly, you wouldn’t make me quit in front of my hometown, I can tell you that. I’m going to put you to sleep, son. Just remember that.”
While Brady acknowledged that his strategy was similar to Muhammad`s in principle, he emphasized his superior execution. He believes the blueprint to defeat Edwards was evident in previous fights, and he simply implemented it more effectively.
“That’s the way to beat Leon,” Brady explained. “The strategy was kind of obvious from many of his fights, but I just executed it much better than anyone else has been able to. Even when he shot for a takedown, Leon is a very technical fighter, but when the fight gets really tough, he tends to break, and I could sense him breaking.”
“I knew he was breaking when he shot for a takedown because the last place he wanted to be was on the ground with me. Once I realized he wanted to grapple, I knew it was going to be over soon.”
This submission victory marks Brady`s third consecutive win since his only career loss to Muhammad via knockout in 2022.
Despite the sting of that loss, Brady now sees it in a positive light, considering Muhammad`s subsequent success in becoming champion.
“If you look at Belal’s record, it’s incredible,” Brady said. “He beat me, and he has many other good wins. People criticized me for losing to him, but that loss was the best thing that ever happened to me. Clearly, I’m on a good run now, and who was the last person to finish Leon? Me. I’m doing pretty well.”
“I’ve been rooting for Belal since he beat me. Of course. The better he does, the better my loss to him looks. He went on to beat Leon and is now fighting Jack [Della Maddalena], who is a very tough opponent. I was preparing for Jack before when I had to withdraw from our fight, and I know how good he is. Jack can knock anyone out. But you can’t count out Belal. He finds ways to win, and I think he’ll win that fight. Of course, I want him to be champion when we fight again, but if he happens to lose, I’d fight him for the No. 1 contender spot. There are options.”
Brady’s dominant victory over Edwards has positioned him as a strong contender for a title shot in the near future.
The main obstacle in his path might be Shavkat Rakhmonov, who was initially scheduled for a title fight last December before Muhammad had to pull out due to injury. When Muhammad was ready to fight again in May, Rakhmonov was injured, leading to Jack Della Maddalena getting the opportunity instead.
While the next title challenger after Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena at UFC 315 on May 10 is uncertain, Brady believes his performance against Edwards was significantly more impressive than Rakhmonov`s close win against Ian Machado Garry in his last fight.
“You tell me? Is making a statement by coming here and beating Leon in his hometown a big deal? I think so,” Brady questioned. “If you compare Ian’s last performance and Shavkat’s performance, Shavkat wasn’t great. Jack’s fight before that, he was losing to Gilbert Burns before he won. I just dominated Gilbert Burns. I just dominated Leon Edwards. So, I think I’m right there.”
“I don’t make those decisions, the UFC does. But if you look at the caliber of opponents I’ve been beating compared to Shavkat, I think I have a strong argument. Gilbert Burns and Leon Edwards are my last two opponents, while his last two were ‘Wonderboy’ [Stephen Thompson] and Ian Garry. I’m building a good record. I just want to keep adding names to my resume, and we’ll see what happens.”
