Sean Brady is feeling confident after his recent success.
At UFC London, Brady achieved a significant victory, submitting former welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the fourth round of their main event fight. This win marked the first time Edwards had been finished and propelled Brady to the top spot in the UFC welterweight rankings, bringing him close to a title opportunity. This high ranking has changed how other fighters perceive him.
On his podcast, BradyBagz, Brady discussed how his life has changed as the No. 1 contender. He noted that fighters who previously ignored his calls for a fight are now interested in facing him.
“I was trying to get a fight with Kamaru Usman for months,” Brady stated. “I messaged him, contacted him, and now suddenly he’s saying, ‘Brady and I should fight for the No. 1 contender spot.’ Really? I just defeated the guy who beat you twice!”
Usman isn`t the only one showing new interest. Brady also criticized former interim champion Colby Covington, who wasn`t interested in fighting Brady before his win against Edwards.
“It’s the same situation with Covington,” Brady mentioned. “I had been asking for that fight for a long time, but the UFC basically told me, ‘This guy is not important.’ Interestingly, I saw a clip where he said, ‘Sean Brady is terrible. I’ve never watched his fights. And so on. I saw him get beat up by Belal.’ But you just said you`ve never watched my fights, then you mention watching me lose to Belal, which doesn`t make sense.”
“He’s considered a high-level wrestler, but Leon took him down multiple times and dominated him. Do you see what I just did to Leon? Imagine what I would do to you? I would defeat him easily. He isn`t even fighting anyone in the top 15 anymore. He might not even be employed by the UFC soon. When did he last win a fight? He’s not a good fighter. …”
“Colby, you’re weak. How can you get hit by Jorge Masvidal in public and then sue him? You are a professional fighter. You are weak.”
While being the No. 1 contender usually guarantees a title shot, the welterweight title situation is currently uncertain. Champion Belal Muhammad was scheduled to defend his title against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December, but an injury forced him to withdraw. Rakhmonov remained on the card and won against Ian Machado Garry, but he also sustained an injury, making him unavailable to fight.
Now, Muhammad is set to defend his title on May 10 against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315. It remains unclear who will be the next challenger for the title after this fight. Brady hopes it will be him, but if not, the Philadelphia fighter insists his next fight must be for the No. 1 contender spot or a title shot.
“Either I’m fighting for the belt next, which could be against the winner or even the loser in some scenario, or it should be me against Shavkat for the No. 1 contender position,” Brady explained. “I don’t have a strong preference. However, Belal and I have a history, which makes for a compelling narrative. So, the best scenario is for him to defeat Jack in May, and then we fight for the title towards the end of the year. Alternatively, I would fight Shavkat in the summer, and the winner of our fight would face Belal at the end of the year.”
“I am only interested in fighting Shavkat or the winner or loser of the title fight. There are no other options. I’m No. 1, and Shavkat is No. 2. A fight with Usman could be interesting if the UFC wants it, as he is a former champion, and that would enhance my record. But besides those, nothing else interests me.”
