Sean Brady reveals why UFC 322 fight with Michael Morales almost didn’t happen until last minute

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 14: (L-R) Opponents Sean Brady and Michael Morales of Ecuador face off during the UFC 322 ceremonial weigh-in at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on November 14, 2025 in New York City. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images) | Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

Sean Brady spent most of UFC 322 fight week wondering if he’d even compete.

Brady, who is set to face Joaquin Buckley in a pivotal welterweight matchup at UFC 328 this Saturday, faced Michael Morales at the UFC’s annual trip to Madison Square Garden this past November. Brady entered the fight on an impressive run, but was stopped in the opening round by the undefeated Morales.

It just wasn’t Brady’s night, and while there’s more to the story, he knows it’s on him.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, I had a great camp,” Brady told MMA Fighting. “It’s funny: I had the best camp I ever had, and I still went out there, and I didn’t get it done, and I think that just comes down to me. There was stuff going on behind the scenes that week, but it’s no excuse. Morales still went out there and beat me, but it made me not be fully locked in and fully present like I was for Leon, like I was for Gilbert, like I was for Gastelum, so that’s where I learned the most.

“It’s those 15 minutes, or 25 minutes, whatever that fight is, I just have to be fully present, fully locked in, and I wasn’t, and I didn’t follow my game plan against Morales, and it cost me. But that’s fighting, and that’s fighting at the highest level against a young, dangerous up-and-comer, and yeah, it is what it is, man. …

“F*cking losing sucks so bad, especially [being] the competitor I am, but I have to come home, and I have to be a dad the next day, so you don’t really get to feel too sorry for yourself at the end of the day.”

Prior to the Morales matchup, Brady decimated and finished former champion Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC London in March 2025.

With Islam Makhachev winning the welterweight title later that night at UFC 322, there were a lot of questions about who would be the next-in-line fighter to compete for the 170-pound title, and the Brady vs. Morales fight was a big one in that conversation.

However, when Brady arrived in New York, he had to deal with something else besides normal fight preparation due to something that popped up with the New York State Athletic Commission.

“Like I won’t say too many details about it, [but it was] something with medicals to where we found out on Thursday that the fight might not happen,” Brady explained. “So it was up in the air for the next two days if this fight was even going to happen, and, ultimately, Saturday night, like right before I left for the fight, is when I found out I was still fighting.