Sean Brady opens up on Jordan Burroughs RAF 12 match, potentially wrestling UFC vet Colby Covington

Sean Brady has put forth his views on his much-awaited freestyle wrestling match against legendary grappler Jordan Burroughs.

The Philadelphia-born UFC welterweight notably revealed how the high-level wrestling matchup against Burroughs came to be booked. Their catchweight showdown will co-headline RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22. 

Additionally, Brady touched upon the possibility of wrestling former interim UFC welterweight champion and reigning RAF cruiserweight crossover titleholder Colby Covington in the RAF (Real American Freestyle) wrestling organization. 

UFC welterweight staple Sean Brady will face Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs at RAF 12

Ex-UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili recently wrestled former UFC flyweight and bantamweight titlist Henry Cejudo in the headlining match of RAF Georgia on July 11. It's noteworthy that Cejudo also boasts the distinction of being a gold medalist in freestyle wrestling, an honor he notched at the 2008 Olympics. 

Dvalishvili, who bested Cejudo via unanimous decision in an MMA matchup in the UFC a few years back, beat him in their freestyle wrestling showdown in the RAF as well. The Georgian-American won on points by a margin of 11-8. They're currently booked for a wrestling rematch, as Dvalishvili and Cejudo clash for the inaugural RAF lightweight crossover title in the main event of RAF 12 in Cleveland on August 22. 

UFC welterweight Sean Brady will also feature at RAF 12, as he'll wrestle Jordan Burroughs, who's beheld as one of the greatest wrestlers in U.S. history. Burroughs clinched the gold medal in freestyle wrestling, competing in the 74 kg category, at the 2012 Olympics. The two American grappling savants will co-headline RAF 12, making their RAF promotional debuts. 

During a recent conversation with James Lynch for Home of Fight, Brady suggested that he'd spoken to his manager Lloyd Pierson (aka Louie Pierson) of VaynerSports, in order to attempt to compete at RAF 11, which was co-headlined by Ben Askren's retirement match against Belal Muhammad on July 18. 

Brady asserted that his competing at RAF 11 wasn't to be, but he was contacted by Pierson around four weeks ago about an opening at another RAF event. He expressed his willingness to compete there and learned that his opponent would be the great Burroughs. 

Brady stated, "And I was like, 'Hell yeah. I wanna wrestle Jordan Burroughs.' So, yeah, it's a win-win for me, dude. They're paying me really good, which is awesome. And I get to wrestle one of the best wrestlers to ever have done it."

Signaling that it made sense, particularly because he currently doesn't have an MMA fight booked in the UFC, Brady said, "So, it was a no-brainer for me to do, especially when I don't have a fight. Yeah. It's going to be awesome." 

Sean Brady eyes a potential RAF crossover title match against Colby Covington

The 33-year-old Sean Brady is fresh off a unanimous decision victory against Joaquin Buckley, whom he bested in May. Incidentally, Colby Covington's latest MMA bout was a cut-induced TKO defeat against Buckley back in December of 2024.

Covington recently caught many fans by surprise with his UFC departure after notifying the organization of his retirement from the sport of MMA. Nevertheless, the Clovis-born athlete's MMA career status is believed to be more nuanced. 

"Chaos" has since implied that he hasn't closed the door on an MMA comeback to the UFC, but exited that realm to better focus on and open up more matchups in the RAF.

Covington is 4-0 in the RAF overall, after entering it earlier this year, and recently became the first to beat grappling savant and UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan in the RAF, whom he outpointed 5-3 in their cruiserweight match that headlined RAF 11. He thereby became the inaugural RAF cruiserweight crossover champion. 

Furthermore, Covington got into a brawl after being attacked by former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad at the RAF 11 post-match press conference. They were booked to clash for Covington's title at RAF 12 on August 22, but he subsequently claimed the match was off.

The RAF brass ultimately rebooked the Covington-Muhammad cruiserweight crossover title clash for RAF 13, which the two archrivals will headline in Miami on September 19. 

The aforementioned developments have a number of combat sports fans elated and abuzz with speculation surrounding who could face Covington for the cruiserweight crossover belt next. He's considered by many to be a favorite against Muhammad to successfully defend his title. 

Sean Brady, speaking to James Lynch, affirmed his interest in wrestling Covington soon. He spoke about having wanted to face him in MMA as well. Brady also hinted that after jumping into the deep end by facing an extraordinary wrestling specialist like Jordan Burroughs, he'd like to wrestle against fellow MMA stars crossing over to the RAF. 

Intriguingly, the crossover titles in the RAF are believed to have been established to give MMA fighters and miscellaneous wrestling enthusiasts, who aren't exactly full-time wrestlers, an opportunity to win RAF gold and compete in fun matchups for the fans. 

As such, Brady acknowledged the challenge of facing wrestling specialists like Burroughs, who fully focus on that sport rather than having obligations in other sports as well. He, in regard to a possible wrestling match against Covington, said: 

"Oh, yeah. So, obviously, I'm going right into the deep end of wrestling -- one of the best wrestlers ever. But after this, I wanna wrestle, like, more MMA guys."

Brady added, "I would love to wrestle Colby. I've been wanting to fight Colby forever. Never got the chance. So, Colby -- there's plenty of guys. Now they have that crossover belt. Yeah. I think the opportunities would be super-cool that are gonna come after this Burroughs match." 

Watch Sean Brady discuss his imminent matchup against Jordan Burroughs and a possible future clash against Colby Covington below (*comments at the 0:43 and 18:40-minute marks of the video):