Brady submits Edwards in 1-sided UFC London main event
Sean Brady entered the UFC welterweight title mix Saturday with a dominant win over former champion Leon Edwards.
Brady submitted Edwards with a guillotine choke at the 1:39 mark of the fourth round in the UFC London main event at The O2 Arena.
It marked the first stoppage loss of Edwards' 28-fight professional career.
Brady smothered Edwards on the ground for the majority of the fight, completing five of seven takedown attempts and amassing over 11 minutes of control time. He outlanded the Englishman 221-23 in total strikes and 57-23 in significant strikes.
Brady accepted the fight on a month's notice after the UFC moved Edwards' original opponent, Jack Della Maddalena, to a title bout against Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in May.
"To be honest, I literally took this fight the day I got out of the hospital with my wife, with our newborn baby," Brady said in his postfight interview. "I knew this was a fight that I could do that in. I know I can do that against anybody in the division. I just showed that against one of the most prestigious champions as of recently. So I think I belong in the top three, top one for sure."
Brady and Edwards were the No. 5- and No. 1-ranked welterweights, respectively, coming in. A win of this magnitude would usually lead to a title shot, but Brady might need to fight once more to earn that opportunity. Shavkat Rakhmonov, ranked No. 2 in the division, was unable to accept a May bout against Muhammad because of injury but is expected to still be next in line for the Muhammad-Della Maddalena winner.
The first round between Brady and Edwards was competitive and unfolded mostly on the feet. But from the second round onward, Brady outclassed the former champion in suffocating fashion. Brady dragged Edwards to the mat early into Round 2 and eventually took his back, applied a body lock, and softened up his body with punches. Brady looked for a kimura but Edwards escaped the submission.
In the opening minute of the third round, Brady took advantage of an ill-advised takedown attempt by Edwards and once again got him to the ground. Brady advanced to full mount and didn't give his opponent any room to breathe.
Brady landed a handful of punches on the feet to start the fourth and secured another takedown. He applied a single-arm, mounted guillotine choke and squeezed, forcing the tap from Edwards.
Brady is now riding a three-fight winning streak and is 18-1 as a pro. The 32-year-old Philadelphia native's lone career loss came against Muhammad in October 2022.
Edwards has now lost two in a row for the first time in his career. The 33-year-old, who was born in Jamaica and resides in Birmingham, England, also suffered his first defeat in London, falling to 5-1.
Edwards forfeited the title to Muhammad at UFC 304 in July after two successful defenses. He now holds a 22-5 (1 NC) record. Edwards went on a 13-fight unbeaten streak from 2016-23 before suffering the losses to Muhammad and Brady.