Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady in the works for October 22, according to reports
Belal Muhammad may not be getting the Khamzat Chimaev match-up he was hoping for, but reports suggest he'll be facing an equally ferocious grappler in Sean Brady next.
Muhammad and Chimaev had attempted to matchmake themselves into a battle of top welterweight contenders at UFC 281 in Abu Dhabi. Both men agreed to a fight, but the UFC apparently had different plans for Muhammad. ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports:
"Big business here at welterweight. No. 5 vs. No. 9 in the official rankings. Belal Muhammad vs. Sean Brady is verbally agreed for Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, per sources."
Big business here at welterweight. No. 5 vs. No. 9 in the official rankings. Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) vs. Sean Brady (@seanbradymma) is verbally agreed for Oct. 22 in Abu Dhabi, per sources. https://t.co/z2DodT19HS
Sean Brady doesn't have the hype or popularity Khamzat Chimaev has earned over the last few years, but his resume is quite impressive. The 29 year old has a perfect 15-0 record (5-0 UFC) with wins over Jake Matthews and Michael Chiesa. He's a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Daniel Gracie and has used his smothering ground game to dominate in MMA.
Belal Muhammad has used a similar grappling heavy strategy to win his last two fights against Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson. 'Remember The Name' is on a seven fight win streak (ignoring a No Contest with Leon Edwards in March 2021) and is undoubtedly close to a welterweight title shot if he manages to win against Sean Brady.
ES.PN/UFC259TWUndefeated @seanbradymma dominated from start to submission finish 😤
Stream #UFC259 on ESPN+ ➡️ ES.PN/UFC259TW https://t.co/YcVATQBkHL
Sean Brady and Belal Muhammad went at it over Twitter prior to fight announcement
Not too many people are eager to fight Sean Brady, and that includes Belal Muhammad. Not to suggest he's afraid of Brady, though. Muhammad is just ranked higher and looking to fight other top contenders. That didn't sit well with Brady, who called Muhammad out on Twitter at the start of June.
"@bullyb170 I know the ufc is calling. pick up the 📞 and agree to the fight. Nowhere to run now. I am coming for you."
and agree to the fight. Nowhere to run now. I am coming for you.@bullyb170 I know the ufc is calling. pick up the 📞 and agree to the fight. Nowhere to run now. I am coming for you.
@bokamotoESPN @arielhelwani @espnmma
Muhammad replied:
"Lol didn’t u pull out of our first flight clown who’s running ..: it’s funny u got twitter fingers now but went silent when Geoff Neal was calling ..there’s 4 guys above me without a fight I’m tryin to fight"
Lol didn’t u pull out of our first flight clown who’s running ..: it’s funny u got twitter fingers now but went silent when @handzofsteelmma was calling ..there’s 4 guys above me without a fight I’m tryin to fight twitter.com/seanbradymma/s…
Muhammad was clearly gunning for a fight with Khamzat Chimaev, and even wore a t-shirt to UFC 276 with a fan-made graphic for the match-up. Unfortunately, it looks like Brady will get what he wants while Muhammad is stuck facing a lesser known and lower ranked fighter that may be just as dangerous as Chimaev.
Belal Muhammad is sporting an interesting shirt 👀
📸 @MikeHeck_JR https://t.co/iyRkPlPYHE