UFC fighter Sean Brady has expressed support for Belal Muhammad‘s potential title shot against Leon Edwards, despite a previous knockout loss to Muhammad, and believes Muhammad deserves the opportunity due to his impressive record.
Sean Brady’s record isn’t flawless. He’s got a knockout loss to Belal Muhammad. But hey, no hard feelings.
Brady’s got respect for Muhammad. He thinks the guy deserves a shot at the UFC welterweight championship. It seems like he’s heading for a showdown with Leon Edwards.
Muhammad’s been pretty vocal about wanting that title shot. The UFC’s kept mum about it though. No word on what’s next for Edwards as champ either.
“Belal’s good,” Brady admitted on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He’s confident he could take Muhammad, but he’s happy for him. Muhammad beat Gilbert [Burns] and looks set to fight for the belt next.
No official announcement yet, but who else is there? Brady thinks Muhammad’s earned it. He’s taken down the most guys in the top 10.
Muhammad’s been on a roll. Ten straight wins, including against Brady, Burns, Vicente Luque, and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson. Looks like he’s the clear No. 1 contender in the division.
He’s faced Edwards before, but the fight ended after an eye poke from the future champ. Muhammad kept going, missing out on a potential rematch. But he’s hoping it’ll still happen – this time with the welterweight title on the line.
Brady thinks Muhammad’s got a good shot against Edwards. “It’s there for him. He deserves it and he should get it and I’m happy for him,” he said. He doesn’t get the hate Muhammad gets. He’s not a bad guy. He trains hard.
Brady’s still thinking about their 2022 matchup. He had some issues leading up to the fight. But that’s the game sometimes.
He wasn’t dominated, but Muhammad started landing punches. It ended in a second-round standing knockout.
“It sucked,” Brady said. He thought it’d be the worst thing ever. He wasn’t feeling right. It was his first time out of the US. His coaches were getting sick, jetlagged. He kept thinking he was going to lose.
He’d always had doubts, but this time he couldn’t shake them. He even dreamt he was going to lose.
It was a tough loss, but Brady says it served a purpose.
Afterwards, he felt lighter. He could focus on fighting, not on keeping his undefeated record.
“Being undefeated, it gets tied to you,” Brady explained. “You’re not fighting to win, you’re fighting to stay undefeated.”
The fight was competitive at first. He did better than he thought. But in the second round, he got clipped. He couldn’t throw. He quit.
He’s bounced back since then. He beat Kelvin Gastelum with a third-round submission last December. Now, he’s set to fight Vicente Luque at the UFC Atlantic City card on March 30.
Maybe he’ll get a rematch with Muhammad. But he’s had time to see how much that loss changed him for the better.
“It’s the best thing to ever happen to me,” Brady said. “The minute I lost, it felt like a f****** Bronco was lifted off my shoulders.”