American MMA fighter Brady silences the London crowd and fires a four-round guillotine choke on his home’s favorite Edwards.
American Sean Brady made a great obedience to former welterweight champion Leon Edwards to silence the crowd at the O2 Arena in London, recording the biggest martial arts (MMA) victory of his career, challenging the battle for a title fight against his fellow countryman Beral Muhammad.
Brady ruled before the guillotine choke forced the 33-year-old to tap out at 1:39 in the fourth round with British fighters at UFC Fight Night on Saturday.
According to MMAFighting.com, Brady, who scored a 18-1 win-loss record in MMA, overcame his emotions as he embraced his battle with Edwards (22-4 record) on February 19th (22-4 record).
“I literally did this fight on the day I left the hospital with my wife (and) my newborn baby,” the 32-year-old said after the victory.
“I knew this was a fight (here) I can do it (the kind of performance). Anyone in the (welterweight) division can do it. As of recently, I showed it against one of the previous most famous champions.
With Muhammad (24-3 record) set to place his belt in the line with Australia’s Jack Dela Maddarena at UFC 315 in May, Brady will be in pole position to meet the winner.
Edwards appeared in his first fight since losing his title to Muhammad in July, dealing well with the constant pressure of advancement from Brady in the first round, but the tide changed after the Americans fought the mat.
Brady controlled the second and third rounds on the ground, threatening with submission, and alternated with powerful strikes as his Jamaican-born opponent struggled to release himself.
Edwards managed to thwart some takedown attempts, but Brady was relentless throughout, and Edwards was upset early in the fourth round, so the Americans began to turn the screws.
Brady skillfully confused his threat, attempting to lock his shoulder, then quickly switched focus, locking his right arm under the opponent’s chin, forcing the tap with pressure to crush him.
Edwards was scheduled to fight Della Maddalena, but he was pulled out of the match and inserted as Muhammad’s next opponent.
Edwards now loses his second straight win last July. He previously won the UFC welterweight title, making up for the majority of his three years.
In the co-main event, New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg came close to the slopes in the title, with former Polish champion Jan Brakowicz taking an unanimous decision victory in a light heavyweight match, extending his unbeaten run to eight fights.
Other results include Kevin Holland defeated longtime promotional veteran Gunner Nelson by a unanimous decision at welterweight — 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, and 29-28, giving his first victory in nine months, following two defeated skids.
In the women’s strawweight action, Molly McCann was defeated by a short-term alternative, Alexia Seinara, as McCann announced his retirement from MMA after four losses on five UFC outings.
Starting the main card, the lightweight Chris Duncan submitted Jordan’s Vassenic, requiring 3 minutes and 42 seconds in the second round, securing a guillotine choke, improving the UFC record to 4-1 since March 2023.
Despite a slow start to open the main card, featherweight Nathaniel Wood scored 30-27, 30-27 and 30-27 against Morgan Charriere, plunging the O2 Arena into frenzy with a dominant unanimous decision victory.
The UFC will remain in one week starting Saturday as the flyweight main event between former champion Brandon Moreno and one-time title challenger Steve Elseg heads over and moves to Mexico City.