UFC welterweight cites overlooked factors that favor Uros Medic over Daniel Rodriguez at UFC Belgrade

Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez are scheduled to star in a historic event at the Belgrade Arena in the city of Belgrade this Saturday, August 1. They'll compete in the headlining match of the very first UFC event to be held in Serbia. 

The welterweight striking maestros have both expressed their excitement ahead of the highly anticipated fight card. Speaking of which, a number of fans and experts have chimed in with their takes regarding it. 

UFC welterweight contender Sean Brady is one of the many observers who've weighed in with their assessment of the Medic-Rodriguez fight. He's seemingly alluded to what some believe are overlooked elements that are indicative of Medic being likelier to win at UFC Belgrade. 

UFC welterweight Sean Brady deems Uros Medic a better striker than Daniel Rodriguez, cites inadequate grappling superiority as key element

During a recent conversation on Home of Fight with James Lynch, Sean Brady opined that Uros Medic has an advantage in the striking department against Daniel Rodriguez. 

While Medic has been knocked out once in his MMA career, against Punahele Soriano in January of last year, Brady seemed to recall the Serbian fighter's submission loss against Myktybek Orolbai from 2023.

He pointed out Medic is a tough fight for Rodriguez, adding that "The Doctor" is generally beaten by skilled grapplers. Predicting a possible knockout win for Medic, Brady stated: 

"But he's really good on the feet; really dangerous. He had knockout power at '55 (lightweight). He has knockout power at '70 (welterweight). He is dynamic. Yeah. He's a tough fight for 'D-Rod.' I personally think that he is going to knock 'D-Rod' out." 

Brady appeared to be of the view that Rodriguez doesn't possess enough grappling superiority over Medic to take the fight to the mat. As such, he foresees that matchup being contested mainly in the striking realm. He explained: 

"Yeah. I just don't see 'D-Rod' having the grappling skills or capability to take a Uros Medic to where he needs to... Obviously, 'D-Rod' hits hard. He could definitely catch him (Uros Medic). But I just think he's outmatched on the feet. And that's usually where 'D-Rod' does his best work." 

Sean Brady discusses Daniel Rodriguez's recent prison stint and age as factors that'll favor Uros Medic

During their discussion about Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez, both Sean Brady and James Lynch made an allusion to Rodriguez's eight-month prison term in Mexico. The California-born combatant spoke in detail about the harrowing experience. 

Also, Brady insinuated that the 39-year-old Rodriguez is in the latter phase of his athletic career. For context, Medic is 33. 

Brady said, "And then I didn't realize, 'D-Rod,' I think he is 40 years old... Going to be 40. So you're going to be 40, you just spent a year in prison." 

Moreover, Brady indicated that although Rodriguez didn't spend an entire year behind bars, alluding to his Mexican prison stint having run for around eight months, it was probably still enough to adversely affect him. 

The 33-year-old suggested that even though fighters do sometimes have long layoffs from professional MMA competition, they aren't spending time in jail "eating Cheetos" and being unable to train properly. 

That said, Brady asserted that it's a good thing that the UFC has accorded such a big opportunity to Rodriguez, that of headlining UFC Belgrade against Medic.

The grappling savant noted that he knows "D-Rod" is excited about it, adding that he hopes the veteran fighter pulls it off, but it's a tough matchup for him. 

Watch Sean Brady discuss the imminent showdown between Uros Medic and Daniel Rodriguez below (*comments at the 8:39-minute mark of the video):