Sean Brady didn’t get his desired fight at UFC 322 – far from it.
Brady initially targeted fights against either former champion Belal Muhammad or Ian Machado Garry, but Muhammad and Machado Garry were matched up for the UFC Fight Night 265 co-headliner on Nov. 22 in Qatar. Instead, Brady (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) has drawn undefeated rising contender Michael Morales (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) at UFC 322 on Nov. 15 from Madison Square Garden.
“I took this fight because fighters fight, and there’s literally no other options,” Brady said on his “Bradybagz Show.” “From what the UFC told me, this is it. This is the only guy I could fight, or else I wasn’t fighting until next year. And I’ve been trying to fight, and no matter what, we’re going to have to fight all these guys regardless.
“Michael Morales is a great fighter. He’s 18-0, he’s going to be around for a long time, he’s young, so whether I fight him now or I fight him fight him later, I’m going to have to get to him eventually. So, f*ck it. I’ll get him out of the way now.”
Machado Garry said he sees a win over Muhammad earning him the next title shot, but Brady thinks his willingness to face a dangerous contender in Morales should make him No. 1 contender.
“Coming off beating Leon, then I go and I take this risk and fight this young up-and-comer, once I beat him, I’m undeniable for the title shot after that,” Brady said. “That’s what I’m going to prove. I’m just going to become undeniable until they have to give me the title shot.
“And, yeah, I’m not waiting around, bro. There’s no perfect matchup in the UFC. Everyone’s tough, everyone hits hard, we’re the best fighters in the world, so you’ve got to be ready to fight any of them, and this is what they came with, and I said yeah.”
Brady went from finishing former champion Leon Edwards, who was ranked No. 1 at the time, to No. 8 Morales.
“At the end of the day, the UFC doesn’t give a f*ck about the rankings,” Brady said. “They make the decisions at the end of the day. I go out there, and I beat Michael Morales after just beating Leon, they can’t keep denying me a title shot. They make the fights. The rankings don’t make the fights. The fans don’t make the fights. The UFC makes the fights, so I keep going out there, I keep being undeniable, they’re going to have to give me want I want regardless.”
