The undefeated prospect improved to 3-0 in the octagon with an impressive second-round submission win over Christian Aguilera at UFC Vegas 8 this past month. Brady earned dominant decision wins in his previous promotional appearances over Court McGee and Ismail Naurdiev but felt he’d have to earn a victory inside the distance to get the notoriety he deserved.
“It feels great,” Brady told MMA Fighting while appearing on What the Heck. “I’ve only had three UFC fights, but I’ve been dreaming about getting a finish in the UFC my entire career. I’ve always known I’ve had those finishing capabilities and, in the UFC, I had two decisions, which there’s nothing wrong with that.
“I knew I’d have to eventually start getting some finishes and I just had to believe in myself. I got around his neck and thought, ‘All right, this is it.’”
Following the win, Paul Felder—Brady’s teammate and the event’s color commentator—had hoped the 27-year-old would have a name in mind for his next opponent. Brady stated that he wanted a big name, which Felder, and other MMA pundits, agreed with.
“I’m not much of a callout guy but I’ll tell you what I would like: I would like a legend fight,” Brady explained. “I’m 13-0 and I feel like everyone has that legend fight where it takes them to the next step.
“I want a big name. I would want to fight somebody in the top-15 but [the rankings] are so weird because Anthony Pettis is still in there. I think Conor McGregor is still in there, Nate Diaz is still in there. It’s so strange, but I just want a big name. My goal in 2020 was to get into the top-15. I don’t know if I’ll get there, but that’s what I’m working towards.”
When asked about days later, he revealed that he wanted to share a card with Felder, with whom Brady believes will return to the octagon sooner rather than later after teasing retirement following a decision loss to Dan Hooker.
Fans and media gave their suggestions on Brady’s next opponent and one name stuck out to him more than others.
“I would love to fight Robbie Lawler,” Brady said. “That would be the fight for me. I mean, it’s Robbie Lawler. I’m not trying to call him out or anything like that, but I want to test myself against guys that I was watching as I was coming up. Robbie Lawler was the man.
“If they sent me that name, that would be perfect.”
Of all the names thrown out there for the Philly native, it was another welterweight prospect that has made a big impact in 2020: Khamzat Chimaev.
Brady would certainly take that fight in a heartbeat should it be presented to him. However, from a business perspective, the 13-0 Philly native doesn’t think it makes a whole lot of sense to match them up this quickly in their UFC tenures.
“I’m not a huge fan of it (right now),” Brady stated. “We’re both [trending upwards], why have us collide now when, eventually, we’ll keep building and building to the top-15, top-10, we can fight then. Right now, let us keep growing. I want to test myself against other guys, first—guys like Robbie, Anthony Pettis—I would fight any of these guys.
“I want fights with guys who are gonna boost me up. So yeah, I’m not too crazy about that, but I don’t make the decisions. We’ll just have to wait and see.”
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