Sean Brady expected to have a chance to compete in front of his hometown crowd at UFC 330. Instead, the Philadelphia native says he never received a single fight offer for the event despite being one of the city’s top-ranked UFC contenders.
UFC 330 comes to Philadelphia without hometown contender Sean Brady
The UFC is bringing a blockbuster card to Philadelphia on Aug. 15, but one of the city’s biggest names will be watching from the sidelines. Sean Brady has been left off UFC 330 despite the promotion staging the event in his hometown.
Two title fights will headline the night. Welterweight champion Islam Makhachev puts his belt on the line against Ian Machado Garry in the main event, while strawweight champion Mackenzie Dern defends her title against Gillian Robertson in the co-headliner. Outside of those title bouts, many fans noticed the lack of hometown representation.
Jeremiah Wells is currently the only Philadelphia fighter scheduled to compete. Sean Brady and Joe Pyfer, two of the area’s biggest UFC names, will both be absent.
Pyfer had initially been booked to face Caio Borralho before Borralho withdrew because of an injury, leaving Pyfer without an opponent.
Brady, meanwhile, says to Home of Fight that the UFC never approached him with a matchup.
“After I fought Buckley, obviously we all have bumps and bruises, and for the most part I was pretty good, but I never got offered anything.”
He added that a matchup with Gabriel Bonfim had been discussed at one point, but nothing materialized.
Brady Calls UFC 330 Card “Underwhelming”
Without a suitable opponent, Brady says the promotion simply never presented him with an offer. The welterweight contender admitted fans have frequently asked whether he would appear on the Philadelphia card.
“I know a lot of the fans are disappointed and I get messages all the time asking me if I’m going to be on the Philly card, and at this point, they aren’t adding any fighters to it.”
Brady believes the event could have benefited from more local talent.
“We got Jeremiah on it, but that’s it.”
While he acknowledged the value of the championship fights, he was less impressed with the rest of the lineup.
“It’s cool that you get two title fights, but the rest of the card is underwhelming.”
Wrestling Match Up Next Instead of UFC Return
Brady had previously stated after his dominant win over Joaquin Buckley at UFC 328 that he wanted a higher-ranked opponent after taking fights lower in the welterweight rankings twice in a row.
With no suitable matchup available for UFC 330, the 33-year-old will instead compete in freestyle wrestling. He is scheduled to face Olympic wrestling legend Jordan Burroughs at RAF 12 one week after UFC 330.
Brady still hopes to return to the Octagon before the end of the year, preferably on the East Coast or at the UFC Apex, but not in New York.