ABU DHABI – Sean Brady anticipates being too strong for Belal Muhammad in the grappling exchanges.
Brady (15-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) will look to enter the welterweight title picture when he takes on Muhammad (21-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) at Saturday’s UFC 280 event at Etihad Arena. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPNews and ESPN+.
With wins over Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson and Vicente Luque, Muhammad is confident he has faced every stylistic matchup in the division. But Brady said Muhammad never fought anyone with his level of grappling.
“It’s a good run, don’t get me wrong,” Brady told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 280 media day. “But even if you look at the grappler that he fought, Demian Maia, Demian Maia is a jiu-jitsu guy. He’s not a grappler. He’s never been good at takedowns; his takedown accuracy was like 23 percent. The dude was pulling guard and scooting towards people.
“I’m a different animal of taking people down and controlling them and ground and pound and submissions, and I feel like it’s gonna be a lot different. It’s gonna be something he’s never experienced before. Just like people talk about what Khabib feels like, you don’t know until you feel it. These guys don’t know. Until I grab them, they’re not gonna know what they’re in for.”
Despite Muhammad’s big wins in the division, he’s a betting underdog once again. Muhammad will have former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in his corner, but Brady said that won’t help him.
“Belal’s good. He’s good at what he does,” Brady said. “But I just think I’m better at what he does, and I think they just made some tactical mistakes that I’m not gonna make.”
He continued, “He’s not Khabib. Islam is not Khabib. Khabib’s Khabib, and Khabib’s lost as a cornerman, and he’s gonna lose again on Saturday night. Guys in Khabib’s camp have lost, so the only one who’s undefeated is Khabib. Belal is not undefeated, and he’s gonna catch another L on Saturday.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 280.
