GREAT UFC card this weekend. We’ve got Charles Oliveira and Islam Mackhachev, T.J. Dillashaw and Aljo Sterling, Sean O’Malley and Petr Yan, and a prelim banger at 170 pounds featuring Philadelphia’s Sean Brady.
There’s been a lot of Philly talk actually, mostly coming from his opponent Belal Muhammad, who said the following at Wednesday’s media day:
Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) doesn't like Sean Brady – or where he's from. 😂
"I hate Philly. I hate Philly cheesesteaks. I hate the Eagles. I hate everything about Philadelphia."#UFC280 | Full video: https://t.co/CiE3TZG1oH pic.twitter.com/6Opn9C11CW
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) October 19, 2022
So Brady was asked about it Thursday, at the pre-fight presser:
Muhammad followed up this:
"The Eagles may be 6-0, but Sean Brady is about to be 15-1" 🦅
[ @BullyB170 | #UFC280 | Saturday | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/nzONUJu44K ] pic.twitter.com/cQcEf3WxlZ— UFC (@ufc) October 20, 2022
Look, here’s the thing – Belal Muhammad is tough, but he’s boring as hell. He’s not gonna knock anybody out, but he will push Brady up against the fence and just try to suffocate him and control the fight.
It’s honestly a pretty interesting matchup because both guys are grapplers. Muhammad has excellent cardio and can grind for three full rounds. Brady can do the same, though, and beat a really good grappler in Michael Chiesa during his last outing. Sometimes these mirror matchups play out in weird fashion, like Usman/Covington 1, when two amazing wrestlers just stood there slugging it out instead of going to the mat. For what it’s worth, Brady is a -145 favorite as of publication.
Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t shout out Quakertown’s Katlyn Chookagian, who opens the main card. She’s 18-4 and riding a four-fight win streak.
