American Sean Brady has scored the biggest mixed martial arts (MMA) win of his career with a superb submission over former welterweight champion Leon Edwards to silence the crowd at London’s O2 Arena, catapulting himself into contention for a title fight with compatriot Belal Muhammad.

Brady dominated before a guillotine choke forced the 33-year-old to tap out at 1:39 in the fourth round against the British fighter at the UFC Fight Night on Saturday.

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Brady, with an 18-1 win-loss record in MMA, was overcome with emotion as he accepted the fight with Edwards (22-4 record) on February 19, according to MMAFighting.com, which he said was a special day in his personal life.

“I literally took this fight the day I got out of the hospital with my wife [and] with our newborn baby,” the 32-year-old said following the win.

“I knew this was a fight [where] I could do that [kind of performance] in. I can do that against anybody in the [welterweight] division. I just showed that against one of the former most prestigious champions as of recently. So, yeah, I think I belong in the top 3, top 1 for sure.”

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With Muhammad (24-3 record) set to put the belt on the line against Australian Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in May, Brady is in pole position to meet the winner.

Edwards, appearing in his first fight since losing the title to Muhammad in July, dealt well with the constant forward pressure from Brady in the first round but once the American took the fight to the mat the tide turned.

Brady spent the second and third rounds controlling Edwards on the ground, threatening with submissions and alternating with powerful strikes as his Jamaican-born opponent struggled to free himself.

Edwards managed to thwart some takedown attempts, but Brady was relentless throughout and with Edwards faltering early in the fourth round, the American began turning the screw.

Brady expertly mixed up his threats, hinting at an attempted shoulder lock before quickly switching focus and locking his right arm under his opponent’s chin and applying crushing pressure to force the tap.

Edwards had been due to fight Della Maddalena, but he was pulled from the bout and inserted as Muhammad’s next opponent.

Edwards has now lost two in a row dating to July last year, as he previously held the UFC welterweight title for the better part of three years running.

In the co-main event, New Zealand’s Carlos Ulberg scored a unanimous decision victory over Polish former champion Jan Blachowicz in a light heavyweight bout, extending his unbeaten run to eight fights and moving closer to a tilt at the title.

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Other results included Kevin Holland defeating longtime promotional veteran Gunnar Nelson by unanimous decision at welterweight – 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, giving Holland his first win in nine months following a two-fight losing skid.

In women’s strawweight action, Molly McCann lost to short-notice replacement Alexia Thainara, which made McCann announce her retirement from MMA after four losses in five UFC outings.

Beginning the main card, lightweight Chris Duncan submitted Jordan Vucenic, needing three minutes and 42 seconds in the second round to secure a guillotine choke and improve his UFC record to 4-1 since March 2023.

Opening the main card despite a delayed start, featherweight Nathaniel Wood got the O2 Arena in a frenzy with a dominant unanimous decision win, scoring 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 against Morgan Charriere.

The UFC remains on the road a week from Saturday as it travels to Mexico City, headlined by a flyweight main event between former champion Brandon Moreno and one-time title challenger Steve Erceg.