Brady beats ex-champion Edwards for shot at title fight with Muhammad

 American Sean Brady has scored the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) win of his career with a superb submission over former welterweight champion Leon Edwards to silence the crowd at London’s O2 Arena, catapulting himself into contention for a title fight with compatriot Belal Muhammad.

Brady dominated before a guillotine choke forced the 33-year-old to tap out at 1:39 in the fourth round against the British fighter at the UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

Brady, with an 18-1 win-loss record in MMA, was overcome with emotion as he accepted the fight with Edwards (22-4 record) on February 19, according to MMAFighting.com, which he said was a special day in his personal life.

“I literally took this fight the day I got out of the hospital with my wife [and] with our newborn baby,” the 32-year-old said following the win.

“I knew this was a fight [where] I could do that [kind of performance] in. I can do that against anybody in the [welterweight] division. I just showed that against one of the former most prestigious champions as of recently. So, yeah, I think I belong in the top 3, top 1 for sure.”

With Muhammad (24-3 record) set to put the belt on the line against Australian Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in May, Brady is in pole position to meet the winner.

Edwards, appearing in his first fight since losing the title to Muhammad in July, dealt well with the constant forward pressure from Brady in the first round but once the American took the fight to the mat the tide turned.

Brady spent the second and third rounds controlling Edwards on the ground, threatening with submissions and alternating with powerful strikes as his Jamaican-born opponent struggled to free himself.

Edwards managed to thwart some takedown attempts, but Brady was relentless throughout and with Edwards faltering early in the fourth round, the American began turning the screw.

Brady expertly mixed up his threats, hinting at an attempted shoulder lock before quickly switching focus and locking his right arm under his opponent’s chin and applying crushing pressure to force the tap.

Edwards has now lost two in a row dating to July last year, as he previously held the UFC welterweight title for the better part of three years running.

In the co-main event, New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg scored a unanimous decision victory over Polish former champion Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout, extending his unbeaten run to eight fights and moving closer to a tilt at the title.


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