Athletes
Sean Brady Is Reaching New Heights
Welterweight Sean Brady Has Newfound Self-Belief And Believes He'll Make His Main Event Clash Against Gilbert Burns "Look Very Easy" This Saturday
Every fighter in the UFC is confident. Whether real or imagined, loud or quiet, if someone makes the walk, it’s with a level of belief that when a fight concludes, they will be the one leaving with their hand raised.
Sean Brady is not a loudmouth. He’s not lighting up social media with declarations of what he’s going to do to Gilbert Burns in their main event on Saturday. But talk to him, and you will hear a confidence that speaks volumes.
Order UFC 306: O'Malley vs Dvalishvili
“A hundred percent,” Brady said. “I always had a hard time with confidence and believing in myself, and I knew once I believed in myself the way I do right now, I'll be unstoppable. That's how I looked against Kelvin (Gastelum), and that's what I'm going to do against Gilbert. And then whoever comes after that and then whoever comes after that.”
No nonsense, no bluster, just a blue-collar guy showing up to the APEX to get in a fistfight with one of the best welterweights in the world. And after posting a 6-1 UFC record, with his only loss coming to current champ Belal Muhammad, Brady knows that he’s in that select group. And now that he knows it, he wants to let everyone else in on the news.
“I'm not looking for a title shot, I'm not looking for a number one contender fight,” he said. “I just want to go out there, perform my best, show the people, show myself, show my family and my team how hard I work and let it show and pay off in the cage. And just get to do what I love to do every single day. Me and Gilbert are going to be in there for 25 minutes and I plan on showing the best Sean Brady there's ever been. And I'm going to make it look very easy because my training's been the hardest it's ever been. I pushed myself to new limits and it's definitely going to show.”
Brady has long been in the running for this moment, especially after extending his unbeaten record to 15-0 by winning his first five UFC bouts. But then he ran into Muhammad in Abu Dhabi in October of 2022, and his momentum came to a screeching halt. And as Brady hit the sidelines for over a year while dealing with injuries, Muhammad beat Burns and Leon Edwards, the latter victory earning him the UFC welterweight title.
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady: Fight By Fight Preview | Fighters On The Rise
Now we’re here, and while Brady’s focus is solely on “Durinho,” he does hold hope that he’ll get a chance to even the score with Muhammad, whether a title is on the line or not.
“I think Belal is a very good fighter, but I know nine out 10 times I beat him,” said the 31-year-old Philadelphian. “It just happens that the one time that we fought, he got the better of me, but he didn't beat me that night; I beat myself. I look at that fight, and I was doing so well, and just one little mental mishap threw me off. But losing to Belal made me the best human I've ever been, the best fighter and the best husband. It just made me a completely different person and a way better fighter. So, I know that down the line, me and him are going to meet again, whether he's still champion, which I hope he is, or if he loses the belt and he's trying to get it back and we fight in a number one contender fight. I know that it's going to happen again. And I know once it does happen, it's going to be a completely different fight.”
But first, there’s Burns, a perennial contender looking to snap a two-fight losing streak. Those defeats came against Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena, but a loss is a loss, and when a fighter is 38 years old, there will be questions about his upside in one of the sport’s toughest weight classes. Not from Sean Brady, though.
“Especially knowing Gilbert, he's a dog and he's been around forever,” said Brady. “He fought everybody, he beat most of the best guys, lost to some of the best guys, but I know he's coming to bring it every single time. So I don't look at him as a 38-year-old Gilbert who's on a two-fight losing streak; I look at him as a prime Gilbert who is coming in here to take me out. And that's why I've trained so hard for this fight. I sparred so hard and did all these things because I want to go in there and make it as easy as possible, but I'm ready to go in there and have it be the hardest fight of my life, and that's what I'm expecting. So yeah, it's definitely made me train super, super hard. No matter how old he is or how many fights he's lost, he's still Gilbert Burns and he's a tough fight for anybody.”
MORE: Get To Know Sean Brady | Sean Brady Fight Week Interview | Brady vs Gastelum Full Fight
His injury woes a thing of the past, and as excited as he is to train, fight and get to the top of the welterweight division, this is a good time to ask Brady where he’s going to be at 38 years old.
“Sean Brady in seven years is a hundred percent still fighting,” he laughs. “I want to fight until I am 45 years old. If I can take care of my body, continue doing what I'm doing, the Sean Brady of 31 would've killed the Sean Brady of 30. So the next year’s version of me would kill the guy who's sitting here talking to you right now. And that's just how I try to live my life, getting better and better every single day. And yeah, when I'm 38, 40, I want to be whooping these young bucks. Look at (Jared) Cannonier, he’s 40 years old, but he just had a war with a 31-year-old (Caio Borralho). It's really your mindset, and if you really enjoy what you do. I do, and I'm going be in it for the long haul.”
UFC Fight Night: Burns vs Brady took place live from UFC APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 7, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
Tags
