Sean Brady is now in a position of power.
Brady achieved a significant victory at UFC London, defeating former welterweight champion Leon Edwards by fourth-round submission in the main event. This win marked the first time Edwards has been finished and propelled Brady to the top spot in the UFC welterweight rankings, bringing him close to a title opportunity. Being the top contender has increased his visibility and appeal to other fighters.
On his podcast, BradyBagz, Brady discussed the changes in his career as the number one contender, noting that fighters who previously ignored his calls for fights are now interested in facing him.
Brady mentioned his attempts to fight Kamaru Usman for months. He said, “I was trying to get the [Kamaru] Usman fight for months. DMed him, hit him up, now, now he’s saying, ‘Me and Brady should fight for the No. 1 contender.’ Oh, should we?! I just beat the guy who beat you twice!”
Besides Usman, Colby Covington, a former interim champion, is also showing interest in fighting Brady, despite previously being uninterested before Brady`s win over Edwards. Brady took the opportunity to criticize Covington.
Brady continued, “Same thing with [Covington]. I was asking for that fight for so long, the UFC pretty much told me, ‘This guy sucks.’ The best thing, I watched him, my brother sent me this clip where he said, ‘Sean Brady f*cking sucks. I never watched one of his fights. Blah blah blah. I watched him get beat up by Belal.’ Brother, you just said you never watched one of my fights but then you watched me get beat up by Belal, so what are you talking about?”
Brady questioned Covington`s wrestling credentials and recent activity: “He’s this high-level wrestler, but bro, Leon took you down multiple times, beat the shit out of you. Do you see what I just did to Leon? What would I do to you? I would f*cking kill him. He’s not even getting anyone in the top 15. Dude, he might not even have a f*cking job. When is the last time that dude won a fight? He f*cking sucks. …
Brady concluded his criticism with a harsh insult: “Colby, you’re a p*ssy. How do you get punched on by [Jorge] Masvidal in public and go sue him? You’re a pro fighter. You’re a p*ssy.”
Although the top contender position usually guarantees a title shot, the welterweight division`s title situation is currently unclear. Champion Belal Muhammad was scheduled to defend his title against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, but withdrew due to injury. Rakhmonov remained on the card, defeating Ian Machado Garry but also sustained an injury, making him unavailable.
Muhammad is now set to defend his title against Jack Della Maddalena on May 10 at UFC 315. The next challenger for the title after this fight is uncertain. Brady, representing Philadelphia, insists his next fight must be for the title or a number one contender match.
Brady stated his options: “Either I’m fighting for the belt next, I could fight the winner or loser, or really me vs. Shavkat for No. 1 contender. I’m truly not leaning towards anybody. But me and Belal have this story and it’s a very good story. So that’s obviously the best scenario: he goes out there, he beats Jack in May, me and him fight for the belt towards the end of the year. … I would fight Shavkat in the summertime and the winner of us fights Belal at the end of the year too.”
Brady concluded, “I’m only fighting Shavkat or the winner or loser for the belt. There’s no one else. I’m No. 1, Shavkat is No. 2. The Usman thing could be enticing if that’s what the UFC wants to do, he’s a former champ so I want that on my resume, but outside of that, no. There’s nothing there.”
