LONDON – Leon Edwards didn’t realize how much of a size advantage he had over Sean Brady.
Edwards (22-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) meets Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 255 (ESPN+) main event at The O2 in London. The pair faced off for the first time in front of The O2 earlier this week, and it left Edwards a little pleasantly surprised.
“I didn’t know he was that small,” Edwards told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC Fight Night 255 media day. “I was walking towards him and he had his back turned to me, and I looked over and was like, ‘Where the f*ck is Sean?’
“Then he turned around and I was like, ‘What the hell?’ So yeah, I think he’s about 5’8, 5’9 probably. I feel like the size difference, the reach, and the strength will play a big part in the fight.”
Edwards’ past four fights have come against elite grapplers in the division, and he sees Brady as no different – outside of one tendency he sees himself capitalizing on.
“I think it’s pretty similar as far as the wrestling takedowns,” Edwards said. “He’s probably got more submission threats as the (Kamaru) Usmans and Colbys (Covington) and Belal (Muhammad). They’re more like riding pressure kind of wrestlers.
“He’ll go for stuf, which will give me more space to get up basically or to re-attack. So, if you see him in the Burns fight, Burns was able to get up every time and he re-attacks every time because he kind of creates scrambles whereas other guys are more pressure wrestlers, I would say probably.”
Brady predicted a submission win, but having never been submitted or finished, Edwards doubts that happens. Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad scored a TKO finish of Brady at UFC 280, which gives Edwards confidence in what he can do.
“I can’t see that happening. I’ve never been in a submission threat in my career really,” Edwards said. “I fought better jiu-jitsu guys than him. If Belal can stop you with punches, I’m going to hurt you. Seeing the size difference, I feel like once he feels my physicality, I feel like I’ll stop him.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 255.
