Sean Brady disagrees with Leon Edwards’ reasons for his defeat against Belal Muhammad.
Brady is scheduled to fight Edwards in the main event of UFC London this Saturday. This will be Edwards’ first fight since losing his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304.
Since that fight, there has been much discussion about the fight’s start time, which was early morning in the UK to accommodate the American audience. Edwards and his coach Dave Lovell have stated that this timing negatively impacted the former champion. However, Brady believes the outcome would have been the same regardless of the time.
“No, I don’t believe that’s true,” Brady stated. “Looking back at Leon’s second fight with Kamaru, he was losing until he landed that head kick. He was on the verge of defeat until that moment.”
“Even in their third fight, I personally think Kamaru was the victor. In many of Leon’s fights, he seems to lose motivation when things don’t go his way and reduces his effort. So, I think Belal had a superior strategy, and the time zone was irrelevant. Belal was simply the better fighter that night.”
“I intend to put him on the defensive and keep him there throughout the fight. You can’t allow him to get comfortable and move forward; that’s when he performs best. Watching his fights, if you pressure him and make him uncomfortable, he’s not as effective.”
In an interview, Edwards mentioned that Brady’s fighting style is familiar to him and that adapting to Brady was “easier” than preparing for Jack Della Maddalena, who will now face Muhammad for the title at UFC 315 in May. Edwards’ recent opponents include Kamaru Usman, Colby Covington, and Belal Muhammad.
Brady agrees that Edwards has been preparing for a grappling-focused opponent, but he believes this isn’t necessarily advantageous for Edwards.
“I believe I’m a significantly better grappler than those fighters, in all aspects: submissions, ground and pound, takedowns, everything,” Brady explained. “But this grappling style has been the cause of all his losses and many close fights that he, in my opinion, lost. So, it’s not wise for him to say he’s experienced this before. It clearly still works against him.”
“It was effective early in his career when he lost to Claudio Silva, and recently against Belal. So, it’s clearly still a weakness.”
After his only career defeat to Muhammad at UFC 280 in October 2022, Brady has rebounded with victories over former title contenders Kelvin Gastelum and Gilbert Burns, with the latter being his first UFC main event.
The 32-year-old is confident in his game plan to secure the biggest victory of his career, which would greatly improve his position for a title shot, although that’s not his immediate focus. Brady acknowledges that his victory would mean disappointment for the fans supporting Edwards.
“I will go out there, push forward, put Leon on the defensive, and make him uncomfortable, whether for 25 minutes or until I get a finish. I’m leaving with a win, and unfortunately, many UK fans will be sad,” Brady concluded.
