While some fighters are just having their first bouts of 2023, heavyweight Patrick Brady has already picked up a win this year, having earned a split-decision over Yimaz Wildman at Art of War Cage Fighting 28 in February.
While he was able to pick up the victory, Brady admits it was no easy task defeating Wildman.
“It was tough,” Brady told MMAWeekly.com. “It went the distance. He was a tough opponent. He had a block head. I landed some big shots on him. He’d never been finished. We fought a war.
“It was a tough fight, a really tough fight, a grueling fight for three rounds. I came out the other side of it with a win and it put me in a good position to be where I’m at now.”
Patrick Brady confident in his inexperience
With the win, Brady gets a shot at the PFL. While he’s the most inexperienced fighter in the current heavyweight bracket, he believes that’s not a disadvantage to him in the coming season.
“I’m so new to the MMA game that I’m getting better, every fight I’m getting better,” said Brady. “If you look at this PFL roster, I have the least amount of experience of all the fighters. I’m the only one with under 10 fights. To me that just means there’s room for growth.
“I’m fighting at a level you don’t see guys 5-0 compete at. I think I’m getting better with every fight. I’m much better than I was a year ago.”
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Patrick Brady’s PFL debut bout
On April 7 in Las Vegas, Brady (5-0) is set to make his promotional debut against Michał Andryszak (25-10) in a preliminary 265-pound bout at PFL 2: 2023 Regular Season.
“He’s a long, rangy fighter,” Brady said of Andryszak. “He throws a lot of head kicks and a lot of body kicks. He likes to fight at distance. He will back up. He will fight on his back foot.
“I don’t think he has the wrestling that do. I trained a lot of wrestling. I want to see where the fight brings me. I’m going to put my chin down, put my hands up and come forward. If he gives me the takedown, I’m going to take it, but I think he’s susceptible to getting hit. He’s a big target.”
While the PFL’s seasonal format means that Brady won’t have to search out other fights like he might with another promotion, he’s not going to let the potential activity level the company might afford him dictate how he fights in the coming year.
“It’s a cool format with the PFL with you get in and you get it done and I think it’s a fight every six weeks. But it doesn’t mean anything to me – I’m going to go out there and fight my best fight and I’ll deal with the next fight after this one,” said Brady.
“The format is cool for staying active. If you like to being active it’s good for that, but if you look at my Tapology, I haven’t really slowed down since we have been back up from Covid.”
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