Sean Brady calls Colby Covington ‘the easiest matchup’ at welterweight: ‘I will murder him’
Sean Brady wants to call his shot after picking up the biggest win of his career with a lopsided victory over Gilbert Burns in the UFC Vegas 97 main event Saturday night.
With his only loss coming to welterweight champion Belal Muhammad back in 2022, the 17-1 Philadelphia native believes he’s earned an even bigger fight after his latest performance. In the cage just after the fight, Brady immediately called for a fight against fellow welterweight contender Ian Machado Garry, but he’s also open to the idea of facing the loudest fighter in the division if that’s a possibility.
“I think Ian just thinks he’s f*cking God’s gift to Earth and he’s not,” Brady said during the UFC Vegas 97 post-fight press conference. “I feel like everyone in the sport feels the same way. I’ll fight him. I’ll fight Colby [Covington]. I think Colby is the easiest matchup in the division. I’ll piece him up on the feet. I’ll rag doll him.
“I would like to fight Ian. He’s an up and comer. I’m a little bit older than him but I’m going to be here for a long time. He’s undefeated. He’s got some hype. Before he said ‘I won’t fight guys who are ranked behind me.’ I’m going to be ranked ahead of him on Tuesday with that No. 6 spot. Maybe I’ll let him fight me. We’ll see how it works out though.”
Brady revealed that he actually pushed for the fight against Garry back in June when the 26-year-old Irish welterweight was attempting to goad Colby Covington into a showdown at UFC 303. Covington wasn’t interested so the UFC ended up booking Garry against Michael “Venom” Page instead.
Garry ultimately won a unanimous decision, but Brady wasn’t the least bit impressed by his performance.
“International Fight Week, I knew Colby was not going to fight Ian Garry,” Brady said during the post-fight show. “Me and Ian, I said I would fight him International Fight Week. It didn’t work out. We’re on a collision course. He’s undefeated. He’s got a lot of hype.
“I thought he looked horrible against MVP. Joe Pyfer smoked some dude [on that same card] and I watched that fight in the back with a bunch of people I’m not going to say who they are but no one was impressed by him.”
Despite insisting that he wants Garry next, Brady just couldn’t resist taking shots at Covington along the way with that also serving as a matchup he would happily pursue.
“I’ll fight Colby in a heartbeat,” Brady said. “UFC please give me Colby, I will murder him. He shouldn’t even be ranked. When’s the last time he fought?”
To answer Brady’s question, Covington last competed in December 2023 when he lost a one-sided decision to Leon Edwards while coming up short in his third attempt at becoming UFC welterweight champion.
As much as Brady welcomes that fight against Covington, he seems to believe Garry is a more viable option but he wouldn’t back down from either matchup if the UFC comes calling.
‘[Ian Machado Garry] just talks so much shit and I’m not a fan of it. I want to fight him,” Brady said. “Colby or Ian Garry, sounds like a fun one.”
As far as timing goes, Brady has a daughter on the way with a due date in February so he’s hoping to fight at least one more time before he becomes a father. While he has to make sure he’s still 100 percent healthy after UFC Vegas 97, Brady anticipates a return in late 2024 or early 2025.
“I want to fight one more time before [my daughter is born],” Brady said. “Hopefully my hand [is OK], I’ve got a couple of injuries but Dec. 14 could be a possibility. The last card in Tampa or early in January. Sometime in that frame.”