Undefeated UFC welterweight contender Sean Brady was last seen in November 2021 when he defeated a surging Michael Chiesa at UFC Vegas 43. Since then, the Philadelphia native has been chomping at the bit to get another appearance in the Octagon.
Brady is currently ranked ninth in the UFC welterweight division, and he is hoping to be paired with a top 10 opponent. Brady has called out Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and Belal Muhammad to no avail as both men rejected the call out.
Brady recently revealed he is looking to come back no later than August and with the surging welterweight garnering “boogeyman” status, here is a look at three opponents who make sense for Brady’s eventual return.
Vicente Luque
A fight between sixth-ranked Vicente Luque and Sean Brady would be a fun one. Luque is coming off a loss to Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision in which he struggled against the wrestling of Muhammad.
Luque would be once again tasked to take on another strong wrestler in a bout with Brady, but would surely come into the fight perhaps with a gameplan against that style of combat that he did not have against Muhammad, which would once again give Luque momentum back into the top five of this loaded division and be the first man to hand Brady a loss on his unblemished record.
For Brady, it would be interesting to see how he can deliver against a prolific striker of Luque’s caliber as well as gameplan for the Brazilian’s elite Jiu-Jitsu skills. A win against Luque would propel him right to the doorstep of the top 5 contenders.
Gilbert Burns
Both Gilbert Burns and Sean Brady have expressed interest in facing off against each other.
Gilbert Burns is coming off a razor-close fight of the year contender with another rising welterweight title contender in Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 273. Although it is very likely Burns would not be too interested in once against putting his top 5 ranking at risk against another lower-ranked opponent like Sean Brady, “Durinho” is also lobbying for a fight against Jorge Masvidal. It will be tough to say when Masvidal will be available due to his very publicized court issues with fellow welterweight Colby Covington. Should the fight between Burns and Masvidal fail to materialize, Brady could be the possible dance partner Burns needs to keep active and determine who deserves the top five spot between the two.
Belal Muhammad
Sean Brady recently revealed that the UFC is trying to rebook him against fifth-ranked Belal Muhammad.
Brady and Muhammad were scheduled to face off in December 2020, but their bout was canceled after Brady withdrew. Brady has since defeated Jake Matthews and Michael Chiesa. Muhammad, meanwhile, has won four straight, most notable being his last two dominant performances against Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque.
Muhammad currently is looking to fight Khamzat Chimaev and Colby Covington in hopes of earning the next title shot, and does not seem to fancy any fights on lower-ranked fighters, namely Sean Brady, who has continued to call him out.
@bullyb170 all you do is talk shit and call for people ahead of you so what does that make you 🤡
Everyone you fought was ranked higher than you time to return the favor
If you are as good as you say I should be easy work Let’s see how much of a bully you are I’ll be waiting
— Sean BRADY (@seanbradymma) June 7, 2022
Unfortunately for Muhammad, Covington hasn’t expressed any desire to fight anyone outside Dustin Poirier or Kamaru Usman. Chimaev is looking to fight Nate Diaz, Covington, or Usman. Should the UFC give Brady the “Chimaev push” that earned him a fight against Gilbert Burns, Belal Muhammad would be the perfect fight for Sean Brady to get as the two superb grapplers would put on a show and settle their old grudge.
