Sean Brady is one step closer to challenging for UFC gold.
Brady dominated former welterweight champion Leon Edwards and secured a fourth-round submission with a guillotine choke in the main event of UFC Fight Night on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.
Brady (18-1) was relentless from the outset in his commanding performance, overwhelming Edwards with a steady diet of grappling and striking.
"I know I can do that against anybody in the division," Brady said. "I think I belong in the top 3 for sure."
Brady fought on short notice when Edwards' original opponent, Jack Della Maddalena, was elevated to the main event of UFC 315 where he will challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title.
Brady will likely be the top-ranked welterweight when the UFC releases its rankings Monday. But his title hopes could be stalled if Muhammad wins at UFC 315 on May 10. Muhammad defeated Brady by TKO in 2022 and the UFC could be hesitant to schedule that fight with Shavkat Rakhmonov in line to challenge for the title next.
Regardless of whether Brady gets a title shot in his next bout, it was the most dominant performance of his career against a former champion who hadn't lost in nine years.
It was lopsided from the start for Brady, who silenced fans of Edwards (22-5) as they hoped the former welterweight champion would bounce back after dropping the title to Muhammad last July. Instead, Edwards was forced to fight off his back foot early as Brady pressed and used his striking to set up takedowns.
After outstriking and securing a late takedown in the first round, Brady charged out of the corner to open the second round and dragged the former champion to the canvas, where he controlled him for the rest of the round. Brady did the same in the third round but pursued a submission finish as Edwards fought to fend off the Philadelphia fighter.
With the fight in control heading into the fourth round, Brady swarmed Edwards with strikes until he collected his fifth takedown of the fight. This time, Edwards couldn't escape Brady's high-level grappling. Brady swiftly transitioned to a mounted one-armed guillotine that Edwards desperately tried to fight off. But Brady's squeeze was too much and Edwards tapped out at 1:39 of the round.
Brady, 32, was dominant, outstriking Edwards 221 to 23 and had over 11 minutes of control time to win his third straight fight.