Sean Brady: ‘I was just sucking blood the entire fight’ against Michael Chiesa

Earlier this week, Sean Brady headed to the doctor to fix a nagging career issue: His nose.

“It’s something I’ve got to get taken care of now so it’s not a problem in the future,” the undefeated welterweight said Monday on The MMA Hour.

Sporting a slightly bent beak, Brady said his win over against Michael Chiesa at UFC Vegas 43 was good enough to earn him a big leap in the welterweight rankings. After struggling to get opponents inside the top-15, it was a welcome opportunity. But he wasn’t thrilled with his showing, and considering the physical challenges he dealt with, it’s no wonder he wasn’t at his best.

“I was just sucking blood the entire fight,” Brady said. “I wanted to do more and show more, because I’ve been off for a while, I had two cancelled fights and an injury. I just wanted to show more of who I am.”

Brady has broken his nose “multiple times” since becoming a fighter. That’s no great feat for anyone who’s spent enough time in a gym, but in his case, it’s more than a minor annoyance. Sometimes, big hits won’t make a dent. Others, just a little tweak will produce a faucet of blood.

This past Saturday, it was the latter after Chiesa popped him early with a shot to the nose. After executing his first takedown, he and UFC commentators realized there was an injury.

“I looked at his back, and there was so much blood on his back,” Brady said. “Man, it was pretty bad. It was dripping into my throat. So I’m trying to breathe, and while I’m breathing, I’m sucking in blood.”

Despite this, Brady and Chiesa managed to have a conversation in the middle of the fight.

An X-ray will determine the extent of the damage, Brady said, and he’ll then get a procedure to straighten out his nose and make sure it doesn’t bleed so much in the future. In the moment, he just had to “improvise” against Chiesa.

“I’m my hardest critic, and I just want to do the best every single time,” Brady said.

But in the end, it was still worth it. When the UFC rankings come out next, he’ll certainly be on the list. Welterweight star Khamzat Chimaev has offered a fight. There are a lot more options than before, and that’s worth eating a little plasma.

Check out Brady’s full interview above where he talks about the fight with Chiesa, what’s next for his career, his tattoo collection and more.