Sean Brady is not convinced by Leon Edwards’ explanations.
Brady is set to face Edwards in the headline fight at 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 considerable discussion about the timing of the bout, which took place in the early morning in the UK to suit American viewers. Edwards and his coach Dave Lovell have publicly stated that this timing negatively impacted the former champion. However, Brady believes the outcome would have been the same regardless of the time of day.
“No, I don’t believe that at all,” Brady told MMA Fighting. “Looking at Edwards’ second fight with Kamaru Usman, he was losing until he landed that kick. He was on the verge of defeat before that moment.”
“Even in their third fight, I personally think Usman 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. Belal had an excellent strategy, and I don’t think the time zone or fight time was relevant. I believe Belal was simply the superior fighter that night.”
“My plan is to keep him on the defensive throughout the fight. You can’t allow him to get comfortable and move forward. He is most effective when he’s comfortable. Watching his fights, if you pressure him and make him uncomfortable, he’s a different fighter.”
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Edwards mentioned that Brady’s fighting style is familiar to him and that adapting to Brady after initially preparing for Jack Della Maddalena was “much easier.” 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 think I am a significantly better grappler than all of those fighters, across all aspects of grappling – submissions, ground and pound, takedowns,” Brady stated. “However, this grappling style has been the source of all of Edwards’ career 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 presents problems for him.”
“It was a problem early in his career when he lost to Claudio Silva, and it just happened again against Belal. So, it’s clearly still an issue.”
Following his only career defeat to Muhammad at UFC 280 in October 2022, Brady has since achieved victories against 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 strategy to secure the biggest win of his career and move closer to a title shot, though that’s not his immediate focus. Brady acknowledges that his victory might mean disappointing the UK fans who support Edwards.
“I will go out there, push forward, put Leon on the back foot, 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.
