Top-10-ranked welterweight contender Sean Brady detailed the injury that took him out of his UFC Fight Night clash with budding prospect Jack Della Maddalena.
Brady was previously scheduled to make his return to the Octagon on July 8, almost 10 months removed from his first career loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 280. Unfortunately, Brady was forced to withdraw from the bout two weeks away from the highly anticipated matchup.
Speaking with James Lynch in a MiddleEasy exclusive interview, Sean Brady detailed his excruciating injury and the recovery process he has endured thus far.
“We’re less than two weeks out at this point. It’s Monday night. I come home from training, and my wife’s a nurse. My elbow was feeling a little weird and I didn’t hit it on anything. It was just sore and I could see it, so I’m like, ‘Hey, do I have a cut or anything on my elbow?’ She’s like, ‘No,’ but there was a little head of like a pimple, but nothing. I go to sleep. I wake up a couple hours later and my arm, like I can see it, and it’s starting to swell and it’s excruciating pain.
“I know this pain because I had the same thing happen to my ankle when I had that staph infection and I had to have surgery. I’m like, f*ck. So, I’m going to sleep, I’m waking up. She was getting up early for work the next morning and I was already awake at 5 a.m. in her face showing her my arm and she’s like, ‘Alright, something’s wrong. Let’s go to the hospital to get some IV antibiotics and hopefully, you’ll be out of there in 12 hours and you’ll be good to go.’ That didn’t happen.”
Brady revealed that he was hospitalized for three days. During that time, they discovered that it was not a staph infection, but a form of strep. Fortunately, they were able to catch it early enough as this specific type of strep can evolve into a flesh-eating bacteria if not properly treated.
Following his withdrawal from the bout, his opponent for the Fight Night event, Jack Della Maddalena, had some fairly unkind words, suggesting that Brady had “sh*t the bed” by pulling out.
“You would think he would understand because he’s a fighter and I’m sure either him or one of his teammates have had some kind of infection where you can’t f*cking control that,” Brady continued. “I just seen that A.J. McKee had some sh*t on his knee. We can’t control that and the craziest thing is, I shower at the gym, when I get home. I clean all my gear. I always have new gear and this is the second time I’ve had an infection and both times it put me in the hospital.”
Sean Brady Not Surprised by JDM’s Tough Outing Against Bassil Hafez
Stepping into Brady’s spot at the event was UFC newcomer Bassil Hafez, a 12-fight veteran who has competed under the CFFC and Fury FC banners. To his credit, Hafez gave Jack Della Maddalena a real run for his money, narrowly coming up short on the scorecards via a split decision. Some fight fans even had Hafez doing enough to walk away with the upset.
“It was a close fight,” Brady responded when asked how he saw the fight. “I’m not gonna sh*t on him the way he tried to sh*t on me. It was a tough situation to be in. He got the win, but Bassil made it tough for him. I think if they would have said Bassil’s name I wouldn’t have been surprised.”
Despite walking away with the win, many fight fans believe JDM was exposed during his fight with Bassil Hafez. Asked if he sees it that way, Brady said:
“I don’t think he was exposed because I already knew… Anyone can get taken down and it’s not that he got exposed. He had a tough fight. He’s going in there and he’s knocked out or TKO’d most of the guys he’s fought. I do think that he finally fought someone who’s actually a good grappler and got to show that that side of his game isn’t as good as the striking. He didn’t get exposed, but I just don’t think up until that point he fought very good stylistic matchups and he finally ran into somebody that was going to give him some trouble.”
Brady Intends on Fighting Again Before the End of 2023
As for when you can expect Sean Brady back inside the Octagon, the Philly, PA native is eyeing a potential fight on the promotion’s 30th-anniversary event, UFC 295, at Madison Square Garden this November.
“I want to be back soon,” Brady said. I know they’re coming to New York in November. I was going to fight before then, but from what I’m hearing, that’s kind of when they want me to fight so that’d be cool. I’ve got some things in the works for some grappling.”
When it comes to rebooking his fight with JDM, Brady is certainly open to it but has no interest in chasing the fight or competing outside of the country to make it happen.
“He’s fighting in Australia and I ain’t going nowhere near Australia. I’m not going outside the country unless there’s a lot of money or a big fight involved and that’s in six weeks. I just got home from my honeymoon. I’m just getting back in training. He can fight whoever and to be honest, I’m ahead of him in the rankings. When I beat Chiesa, Chiesa was number six. I never got that ranking.
“So, I’m ahead of him in the rankings. After that fight, I’m not gonna go chasing him and I’m damn sure not going down to Australia. If he fights in September and they want him to fight again in November or whenever they want me to fight, whatever. It is what it is.”
