Michael Bisping on vital Leon Edwards change that could decide Sean Brady bout

Interview: The former UFC champion, now commentator, breaks down Edwards’s test in London

Leon Edwards must fight on the front foot and “hurt” Sean Brady at UFC London, Michael Bisping has said.

British-Jamaican Edwards faces Brady on Saturday, as they meet in a welterweight main event at the O2 Arena. The bout is Edwards’s first since losing the title to Belal Muhammad in July.

In that title loss, Edwards was largely out-grappled as he lost on points, though he badly cut and hurt Muhammad in the final round. It was reminiscent of how he left it late to knock out Kamaru Usman in 2022, when Edwards won the belt in the final minute of a fight he was losing.

And the home fighter can’t afford to make another slow start this weekend, per his compatriot Bisping – a former middleweight champion and now a UFC pundit for TNT Sports UFC pundit.

“He’s got to be aggressive, he’s got to go forwards, he’s got to try and put Brady on the back foot,” Bisping told The Independent and other publications. “When you’re the champion… I think he fell into the trap of almost fighting not to lose. He’s got to hurt Sean Brady.

“He can’t let Brady back him up to the fence; he has to stay off that fence like his life depends on it.” Bisping was referring to American Brady’s grappling specialism, which has echoes of Muhammad’s.

Leon Edwards left it late to hurt Belal Muhammad in a decision loss (REUTERS)

In any case, there is a risk attached to Edwards being more aggressive, Bisping admitted. It is also more easily said than done to make such a tactical shift, the middleweight icon said.

“It’s very hard, because everything you do has consequences, and there’s this mental game going on. You’re thinking: ‘If I throw a right hand, he’s gonna come underneath; if I throw a kick, he’s gonna catch it.’

“You’re just second-guessing yourself constantly. You don’t want to blow it all on one wrong move, which can result in potentially losing the fight. So, you start to clam up, and the volume gets restricted.

“You don’t know what’s going through the fighter’s mind. There’s 20,000 people, they all want blood, you’re capable of giving them blood… but on the flipside, if you just get reckless then you’re gonna lose the fight.”

Sean Brady (right) is up next for Edwards on Saturday (Zuffa LLC/Getty)

Michael Bisping (centre), former UFC middleweight champion (TNT Sports)

Bisping also played down the idea that Edwards is making a mistake in focusing on the idea of fighting for the belt after facing Brady.

“It’s not a bad thing to fixate on, being the champion of the world,” said Bisping, 46. “I always say: ‘You only get one peak.’ But I don’t think for Leon that’s necessarily the case. He’s still very much in the prime of his life, he just had an off night [against Muhammad], it’s not like his best days are now behind him.

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with obsessing about becoming the champion again. Leon’s a smart guy, he knows that to do that he has to beat Brady. He’s just looking at the bigger picture. I don’t think that necessarily means he’s underestimating Brady.

“I think he probably knows he’s got a tough fight on his hands, because he has. If he loses to Brady, title fights are gonna be much, much harder to come by. If he beats Brady, maybe he’s next up.”

Watch UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs Brady exclusively live on TNT Sports and discovery+ from 5pm GMT on Saturday 22 March.