With UFC 315 set to be headlined by Belal Muhammad defending his welterweight title against Aussie juggernaut Jack Della Maddalena, the upcoming UFC London main event on March 23 will probably determine the next line of contenders for the gold. Former champion Leon Edwards, coming off losing his title to the Palestinian-American in a very one-sided fashion, is set to face the ascendant #5 ranked Sean Brady.

On the other hand, Brady is coming off a decision win over the ever-dangerous veteran Gilbert Burns. And what an interesting matchup it is. A classic striker vs. grappler clash! A consequential fight for the entire division; whoever wins will immediately find themselves in the title mix. In this article, we take a breakdown of Edwards’ and Brady’s game and make our official prediction for the much-awaited welterweight clash.

UFC London: Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady stats

Sean Brady is just one year younger than the 33-year-old Leon Edwards and has suffered only one loss (to Belal Muhammad) in his 17-1 career. The 22-4 ‘Rocky’, on the other hand, has more miles on his body and is much more experienced than the American. Stylistically, the fight will come down to how well he can deal with the Englishman’s point-fighting style of striking.

The American will want to take the fight to the ground as quickly and often as possible so he can put his smothering grappling game to full use. This is not to say that ‘The King’ is a bad striker, but grappling is very much the short, stocky, and freakishly strong BJJ black belt’s greatest strength.

Leon Edwards likes to pick his shots carefully and is a very cerebral fighter who has a pretty low output rate for someone who is primarily a striker. On average, he lands a sliver under 3 significant strikes on his opponents every minute at just over 50 percent accuracy. His solid defense lets him stop almost half the shots thrown by his opponents, but he still absorbs around 2 significant strikes per minute.

In contrast, Brady is a much more active fighter, and successfully lands over 4 shots per minute on his opponents, on average. However, he does absorb three strikes per minute, one more than ‘Rocky’. Now with their stylistic matchup and stat breakdown out of the way, lets get down to business.

Edwards vs. Brady breakdown and prediction

Despite what their striking may lead you to believe, Edwards is the better striker, with a sneaky good clinch game and respectable takedown defense. He has beaten plenty of grapplers in his time, and his careful, deliberate fighting style helps him avoid being in bad positions where he could be taken down from.

On the other hand, Brady’s only loss was a KO/TKO by fellow grappler and current champ Belal Muhammad, who isn’t known for his striking. At the highest level, Brady’s stand-up game has come up short and Edwards is a much cleaner striker. Even better than Muhammad. The American is a very real submission threat, but on the feet, he will probably struggle to land clean shots.

Another important factor in their fight may be the fact that Edwards’ low output rate helps him stay fresh and allows him to do his best work in the latter rounds. A submission by Brady within the five rounds is a possibility. But we think the Englishman is good enough to avoid that, last the full twenty-five minutes, and win a unanimous decision because of his crisp striking and point-fighting style. What are your predictions for the Leon Edwards vs. Sean Brady clash?