UFC welterweight Sean Brady is coming off his first professional loss at UFC 280.
UFC 280 was an event that dictated the futures of many fighters. Fans saw Aljamain Sterling get his second title defense. They saw Sean O’Malley solidify himself in the number one spot in the bantamweight rankings, and Belal Muhammad showed that he is a force in the welterweight division. Unfortunately for Sean Brady, he was on the losing side of that bout with Muhammad.
Coming into the fight Brady was riding high in the division. He was undefeated at 15-0 and was said to be the next great talent at 170 pounds. Unfortunately, his skills were not enough that night in Abu Dhabi, he lost via second-round TKO. Following the only loss of his professional career so far, Brady has been taking the defeat in stride. He feels a sense of relief in now having the first loss out of the way.
“If I could go back and win the fight, if I had the choice I wouldn’t have because all the lessons I’ve learned about myself and all these little things I need to change and I’m going to change going forward would never have happened,” he said on The MMA Hour. “I would continue to do the same things I was doing. And eventually, it would have caught up to me. So I’m so happy that this has happened to me now. I’m back in the gym. I’m happy. You know, like, I’m not devastated.”
Sean Brady is taking his loss and turning it into new opportunities
Brady spoke about how he feels the loss was more of a blessing in disguise. He spoke about how he thought when he lost in his career his life would have been over, but in the wake of a loss, he feels it could be a great turning point in his career. Brady who trains primarily out of New Jersey is now looking at taking on some new training partners in Florida and in grappling standout Gordon Ryan.
“I’ve always wanted to go to Florida and train with those guys down there. I have connections with guys and I just always want to train I just never did because I just live inside of my comfort zone and just doing my same routine and just being comfortable with that and training with the same guys. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not leaving my team, that’s not what I’m saying,” he said. “But I want to go train and learn new things from different people and train with different bodies and just get different experiences, you know, and I feel like I’ve always held myself back from that like, I’m gonna go down to Texas and train with Gordon Ryan and those jiu-jitsu guys.”
Brady is already looking to get back in the cage. He is still ranked in the top ten of the welterweight division and wants to fight early next year.
