Sean Brady Reveals Septic Bursitis Forced Exit from UFC 290

Some unfortunate circumstances forced Sean Brady to withdraw from a proposed bout against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 290.

The Philadelphia-based welterweight recently revealed on Instagram that septic bursitis was the cause of his exit from Saturday’s card.

“Hey guys, as most of you know, I recently had to withdraw from my fight next weekend. I noticed a small blister on my left elbow after training on Monday night and woke up with pretty bad swelling and pain. As most of you know, I had a pretty serious staph infection in 2021, which resulted in surgery and [four] weeks of IV antibiotics through a picc line,” Brady wrote. “My wife, being a nurse, took a look at my arm on Tuesday morning and told me it would be the best idea to go to the hospital (for what we thought would be 1 dose of iv antibiotics) and get discharged and go about the rest of my camp and head to Vegas.

“Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. My arm continued to swell and wasn’t taking well to the antibiotics. Swelling and pain got worse, the orthopedic surgeon had to drain my elbow twice and send cultures to determine the correct antibiotic course. Thankfully by Thursday they were able to pinpoint that strep pyogenes group was growing in my left elbow, which quickly spread to my bursa causing a septic bursitis. I was able to get discharged but still having some swelling, and the doctor said there’s no way I’m able to fight and I need to let this heal. I’m crushed because I put my heart and soul into this sport and this camp, I sacrificed going on a honeymoon with my wife, spent money I’ll never get back. But things happen man and I’ll be back stronger than ever.”

Maddalena will remain on the UFC 290 card, as Josiah Harrell stepped in on less than a week’s notice to face the Australian prospect on Saturday. Brady also addressed Maddalena’s initial reaction to his withdrawal from their fight.

“To Jack, I’m sorry we won’t be able to get to share the cage together,” Brady wrote. “I know you worked just as hard as me but as for saying, ‘Brady shit the bed,’ I expect that from an internet troll, but not a fellow fighter himself, so shame on you and I hope you/none of your teammates have to go through this in the future. We’ll see each other someday soon.”

Brady last appeared at UFC 280, where he fell to Belal Muhammad via second-round technical knockout — his first defeat in 16 professional outings. The former Cage Fury Fighting Championship title holder owns victories against the likes of Michael Chiesa, Jake Matthews and Court McGee.

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