Sean Brady is trying to climb the ranks of the UFC’s welterweight division, but he’s having a hard time finding a top-10 opponent who will sign on the dotted line. Brady is trying respectfully to find a better ranked opponent. This has resulted in some backlash, most prominently from Stephen Thompson.
Following the biggest win of his career over Michael Chiesa, as well as surgery on his broken nose, Brady called for a fight with “Wonderboy,” who is currently on a two-fight skid following decision losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad. But Brady learned, when you call for a fight with the “NMF” in the UFC, that might come with some heat.
” I know that Wonderboy is not coming to the ring. Brady said that he doesn’t wish to face another grappler. I got so much online heat for calling out him. I’m like, ‘Dude, I’m No. 9, He’s ahead, what should I do? Do not try to beat a man [ranked] in front of you?’
“Everyone is just like, ‘Let Wonderboy go fight strikers.’ This isn’t kickboxing. This is not Muay Thai. This isn’t karate. You’ve got to fight guys who grapple. It is your job to keep me from taking you down. You must also stay upright if I take you down. Because people are robbing me on the internet, I am not touching Wonderboy anymore. But I love to fight that fight
To Brady’s credit, he didn’t call for the fight with Thompson in a disrespectful way. Brady called Thompson a “legend,” and felt it made sense from a meritocratic viewpoint. Brady just wanted to be as realistic as possible, which is why he understands that the risk vs. reward factor could play a significant role in whether or not he’ll be able to land a top-ranked opponent at this juncture.
“It was literally the nicest callout ever,” Brady said. “I didn’t say anything bad about this man, and that’s not who I am. A lot of people tell me, ‘You’ve got to start talking s***.’ I’m not going to change who I am to get a fight. It’s going to take me a little longer to get where I want to go, but that’s been my whole career: I’ve had pullouts, staph infections, a lot of s*** that’s happened in my career, but at the end of the day I’m still undefeated. It’s been a good experience for me, I have won every fight, I don’t want to cut corners .”
The Philadelphia-based fighter is 5-0 in the UFC and currently sits at No. 9 in MMA Fighting’s Global Rankings. Brady has won a unanimous victory over Court McGee and has also been victorious in submissions over Jake Matthews, Christian Aguilera and Christian Aguilera.
Over the last 18 months, Brady was booked with Muhammad, and twice with now-former UFC fighter Kevin Lee, but none came to fruition. At this point, Brady is willing to fight a fellow up and coming contender, but is hoping to face someone above him in the rankings that is in his range.
” I’d love to see the Belal fight and the Masvidal fight.” Brady said. “Once you get above that, Gilbert Burns is [ranked] high up there and he just fought Khamzat Chimaev. I have so much respect for Gilbert. He’s a great guy, I believe he is the best in his division. I understand that he would like a huge name, and that I could test my skills against him.
“That is where I am. It’s not difficult to find guys, but it is getting them saying, “Yeah.” And it works: it’s No. 9. Although I am a bit behind in the rankings, my undefeated record is still intact. Some guys remain hesitant about taking on the fight. However, someone will have to agree to it eventually. Somebody is going to need to get some food on their table.”
