Sean Brady is back.
Following a disappointing loss to Belal Muhammad — the first of his career — Brady had something to prove in his return at UFC Austin and it’s safe to say he made quite the statement with his win over Kelvin Gastelum.
Following a lopsided performance through the first two rounds, Brady took Gastelum down to the ground and eventually locked on a nasty kimura that forced the former interim middleweight title challenger to tap out. The end came at 1:43 in the third round as Brady moved to 16-1 in his career.
Sean Brady beats Kelvin Gastelum in his welterweight debut #UFCAustin pic.twitter.com/2Jek8rTw3Y
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) December 3, 2023
“He got submitted,” Brady said about his win. “That’s what I do and that’s what I’m going to do from now on.”
It didn’t take long for Brady to close the distance and bring Gastelum down to the canvas where he quickly advanced to take the back. From there, Brady started searching for the rear-naked choke but a momentary lapse in judgment allowed Gastelum to break his grip and escape back to his feet.
It was short-lived success, however, with Brady wasting no time to secure the same position again and Gastelum was once again stuck playing defense in the grappling exchanges. The success Brady found with his wrestling continued into the second round after putting Gastelum on his back yet again before moving into the mount.
Any attempt from Gastelum to break free was immediately countered by Brady, who always seemed ready to react so he could maintain a dominant position. Brady’s wrestling seemed almost unstoppable no matter how much Gastelum tried to resist.
Brady continued his ground assault into the third round until he just wore Gastelum down and got into position to lock on the kimura. With the arm twisted behind his back and nowhere to go, Gastelum had to tap out or risk potential injury to his shoulder from the submission.
It was an impressive showing from Brady, who already had a name in mind for his next opponent.
“I can beat anybody at 170,” Brady shouted. “If Ian Garry gets through [Vicente] Luque [at UFC 296], I’ll want that. I’ll maul your boy.”
