This past Saturday on the main card of UFC Austin, we saw a big time matchup in the welterweight division. Top contender Sean Brady (16-1) was looking to bounce back while spoiling the welterweight return of Kelvin Gastelum (18-9).
Gastelum was finally fighting back in his ideal weight class on Saturday and made the weight with ease. Considering that and how good he looked against Chris Curtis earlier this year, I thought UFC Austin might be trouble for Sean Brady. Brady was unbeaten previously but was dominated and stopped by Belal Muhammad in late 2022.
We hadn’t seen him sense. His inability to take Muhammad down and his poor striking really gave me pause in this fight against Gastelum. However, Brady looked like a completely different animal on Saturday night. To my surprise, he was able to take Gastelum down whenever he wanted to.
On the feet, he was able to land big shots and even appeared to hurt Gastelum at times. In the final round, he got a big takedown and immediately moved into side control. Once he was there, he locked up a kimura and submitted the former Ultimate Fighter winner at UFC Austin.
What’s next after UFC Austin?
This was a massive win for Sean Brady and he quieted the crowd after he won. Many, including myself, seemingly wrote him off after that last fight and made the assumption that Gastelum was going to get the big win. However, Brady shut everyone up and looked so dominant that he should get a big fight in his next one.
After Brady won, he made it clear who he wants next. He wants to face Ian Garry who is set to take on Vicente Luque next weekend at UFC 296. Honestly, I love that fight should Garry get the win. Garry has said that he wants to defeat all top contenders on his way to a potential title shot. He wants to fight the best strikers and grapplers. Well, in grappling, it doesn’t get much better than Brady.
There appears to be some heat there already and if Garry gets the win, I absolutely love the matchup.