Sean Brady thinks his loss to Belal Muhammad would never happen again if they ran things back.
Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) handed Brady his first career loss at UFC 280 in October 2022 when he stopped him by Round 2 TKO. It was a tough pill to swallow for Brady (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC), but the 30-year-old chalks it up to a mental thing, not skills.
“The world’s not going to end when you lose, you know? I had this thing in my mind that the world was going to be over if I lost my undefeated record,” Brady told MMA Junkie. “It’s not that serious. Yeah, fighting is a huge part of my life, but anybody can lose when you’re fighting the best guys in the world, especially.
“I just got to believe in myself more. I kind of didn’t believe in all my skills that night. I kind of had a little mental lapse, but that will never happen again. I’ve learned more from that loss than I did all of my wins. So, it was very good for me. I’m honestly happy it happened.”
Muhammad has continued to shine since beating Brady, picking up a big win over former title challenger Gilbert Burns at UFC 288. But Brady thinks he beats Muhammad every other time they fight.
“I think if I fight Belal 10 times, he beat me that one, I’d beat him the other nine,” Brady said. “But, I’m super happy for him to see where he’s at and hopefully he’ll keep winning, I’ll keep winning, and we’ll get to do it again.”
Brady will look to rebound when he welcomes Kelvin Gastelum (18-8 MMA, 12-8 UFC) back to welterweight at UFC on ESPN 52 on Dec. 2 at Moody Center in Austin, Texas.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 52.
