NEW YORK – A lot is made of Sean Brady’s grappling every time he steps into the octagon. With a black belt and six submission wins in hand, it’s often a topic when people analyze Brady’s bouts. However, for Michael Morales, Brady’s grappling isn’t overly special.
Morales (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC), an unbeaten rising welterweight contender, takes on Brady (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) on the main card of UFC 322 – which goes down Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Ahead of the bout, a lot of people have wondered how Morales would fare with Brady’s jiu-jitsu, and those same questions were brought to him at Wednesday’s UFC 322 media day, questions which Morales brushed away.
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“Sean Brady, everyone looks at him from outside the cage and everyone is making him out to be a super grappler and having this superpower with his jiu-jitsu, but I see him equally to everyone else,” Morales said in Spanish. “I don’t care what he does, I know that I have done a good job with my team, and all I have to do is show what I’ve learned, and that’s it.”
Ahead of UFC 322, Morales did cross-training at Atos Jiu Jitsu HQ in California with many high-level grapplers. Morales claims he held his own training with world champions and feels more than ready to deal with whatever Brady sends his way.
“I prepare in all areas very well, it doesn’t matter if it’s jiu-jitsu, wrestling or whatever,” Morales said. “I try to always prepare myself well. Like you said, I went to ATOS and I did well. The level at ATOS is insane. Everyone there is very good. I also train at Entram, which is a very strong jiu-jitsu gym. People on the outside don’t see that so they think I’m not training, but I train almost every day. Entram itself focuses on Jiu-jitsu. I just haven’t had the need to implement it, but if I do in this fight, I will use it.”
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Morales also brought back things to MMA. After all, his last fight was against Gilbert Burns, a high-level grappler and jiu-jitsu world champion, who he finished in the first round.
“You guys saw the fight between Sean Brady and Gilbert Burns,” Morales said. “He couldn’t finish him, and I was able to quickly escape out of his control. I think they have the same level of strength, but Sean Brady is just younger and a bit quicker. All I can say is that I’m going to use my tools, and if it’s jiu-jitsu, I will do it.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC 322: Michael Morales unfazed by key part of Sean Brady’s game
