Philadelphia’s Sean Brady produced a dominant display to hand Jamaican-born British southpaw Leon Edwards a humbling loss in the pair's welterweight main event at UFC London at the O2 Arena on Saturday.
The 32-year-old Brady out-grappled Edwards throughout before ending the fight with a guillotine choke in the fourth round for his third victory in a row.
The defeat is 33-year-old Edwards' second in a row after losing his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad in July.
"I took this fight the day I got out of the hospital with my wife and our newborn baby. I knew I could do that and I think I belong in the top three for sure," said Brady after the fight.
"Dana [White] gave me a wonderful opportunity to come out here. I love the UK fans, sorry I had to do that to your boy but lots of respect," he added.
Brady was a late replacement in the contest for Australia's Jack Della Maddalena, who will instead face Muhammad for the belt at UFC 315 on May 10.
Edwards was noticeably dismissive of Brady during the build-up to the fight, instead focusing most of his attention on a potential rematch with Muhammad.
Despite a decent start in the first round, Edwards struggled to find direction in a fight where Brady had a clear game plan.
Similarly to his fight against Muhammad, Edwards spent much of the fight on the backfoot, eventually giving up position on the ground and shooting for his own ill-advised takedown at one stage.
The American's dominance was so great, frustration in the crowd started to grow and fans started to exit at the end of the third round.
Prior to the fourth round, Brady's corner told him "Edwards is broken" and he took advantage, taking the action to the ground once more and securing the fight-ending guillotine choke.
"I heard all week people saying I'm too small. I'm not small for welterweight, I was 190lb when they weighed me at the back. I'm just short and that's alright," added Brady who has now firmly etched himself into the welterweight title picture.
Photo credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images.