Sean Brady always planned to fight again to close out 2025.
Currently the No. 2-ranked UFC welterweight contender, Brady briefly launched himself into the top spot at 170 pounds after his exceptional performance against former champion Leon Edwards this past March in London. The fourth-round guillotine choke extended Brady’s win streak to three and positioned him among the division’s elite. Unfortunately for the proud Philadelphian, Jack Della Maddalena’s capture of the title from Belal Muhammad two months later, along with former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s move up in weight to challenge for two-division gold, muddied the waters at welterweight.
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So rather than continue to wait on the sidelines, Brady, 32, now hopes to further stake his claim to a title shot on the same Nov. 15 card as Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev at UFC 322. Standing in his way is a high-risk, sizable step down the ladder, against the undefeated Michael Morales. Brady, however, is taking his latest assignment in stride, especially after a recent conversation with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell.
“I was talking about the rankings, and he said, ‘The rankings really don’t matter. At the end of the day, the UFC is going to put whoever they want in there for the belt,'” Brady said on Wednesday’s “The Ariel Helwani Show.”
“So I’m not really concerned with the rankings. I just beat the No. 1-ranked guy. I go out here, I beat an 18-0 kid, young, hungry, up-and-comer, then undeniable is the word in my mind. I’ll become undeniable after that.”
November is expected to provide clarity for welterweight’s top crop of contenders. One week after UFC 322’s trio of pivotal 170-pound matchups — Edwards vs. Carlos Prates is also on the card — UFC Qatar continues to sort the lot, with former champion Muhammad returning against Ian Machado Garry. While any one of the four matchups could very easily be classified as a No. 1 contender bout, Brady is barreling into UFC 322 with a purely performance-based mindset.
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“I don’t think Belal and Ian are No. 1 contenders, I don’t think me and Michael are No. 1 contenders, I don’t think [Edwards’ opponent Carlos] Prates and Leon are either. It’s just whoever performs the best, then whoever’s going to be available when they need. That’s going to be how it goes,” Brady said.
“That brings me all back to how I got with Michael Morales. Since Leon, I’ve only been offered two fights since Morales — it was Ian in Chicago and Vancouver. I said yes [to both]. That was kind of the plan, and eventually, we didn’t hear anything. Hunter Campbell called me personally. He offered me Morales and gave me the whole landscape, and said he was going a different way with Ian. That’s kind of how we ended up where we’re ending up. Morales was the only guy available if I wanted to fight this year. I’m going to fight. That’s how we are where we’re at.”
The aforementioned Garry told Uncrowned on Tuesday’s “The Ariel Helwani Show” that he’s viewing the current welterweight landscape similarly. Before Brady and Garry lined up their separate bouts, a collision between the two felt like the logical next step, and according to both, it was on the table.
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Discussions were active and both parties agreed to a fight until the promotion pivoted. Despite Brady’s consistent desire to face Garry above all other options, talks eventually came down to a time concern.
“Ian was the one I would have wanted, just because we were going back and forth. But in my mind, at the end of the day, Morales is 18-0, I’m going to have to fight him eventually. I’ll get him out of the way now,” Brady said.
“I wanted to fight two more times before this year, so I definitely wasn’t looking to wait. All these guys are great. … If I’m as good as I say I am, I should be able to beat all these guys. So why not take out Morales right now, then deal with somebody after that?
“I don’t get paid or the status I’m trying to get to [by] waiting around and not fighting. Fighting is going to solve everything in this. I keep winning fights, I’m going to become undeniable, and eventually they’re going to have to give me the title shot.”
Sean Brady (top) put Leon Edwards through the wood-chipper in March at UFC London.
(Adam Davy – PA Images via Getty Images)
Brady is confident his choice to fight rather than sideline himself will pay off. The flip side of the conversation is the former No. 1 contender who’s become an odd man out, Shavkat Rakhmonov. “The “Nomad hasn’t been inactive by choice — since defeating Garry in December, an injury has left the undefeated Rakhmonov watching in recovery, still hopeful to get the title shot he was in line for in 2024.
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Because of that inactivity, Brady can’t imagine Rakhmonov leapfrogging the eight welterweight names lined up to fight in November.
“There’s absolutely no way. It’s been too long,” Brady said of Rakhmonov. “I asked for that fight here, and I was just told that he wasn’t going to be ready yet.
“Maybe they do him and Kamaru [Usman], or something like that. There’s going to be too much happening in the next two months that he’s just going to walk out from his injury and get a title shot.”
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Brady comments about his conversation with Campbell makes the UFC’s unofficial tournament layout in November all the more intriguing. The promotion’s matchmakers are going to do what they want to do, regardless of any number by a fighter’s name; therefore, to the best performer go the spoils.
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If Brady has to guess, though, he believes Edwards’ opponent, Carlos Prates, has the inside track.
“Probably Prates,” Brady said when asked who he believes UFC is be most interested in seeing fight for the title. “He has a very fan-friendly style. The spinning elbows, the Muay Thai, the smoking the cigarettes. I’m a realist, and I can sit back and say it’s rather him than me.
“It’s becoming the entertainment business. It’s not who’s the best fighter who can dominate.”
