UFC 328 results: Sean Brady dominates Joaquin Buckley to win despite surge of irregular betting movement

Sean Brady found himself under a microscope Saturday night ahead of his UFC 328 main card bout against Joaquin Buckley. As it turns out, it was much ado about nothing.

Brady (18-2) used his formidable wrestling to dominate Buckley (21-7) and win a wide unanimous decision (30-25, 30-25, 30-27), quelling concerns after a surge of abnormal pre-fight betting movement raised eyebrows and flipped Brady from a sizable favorite to a sizable underdog.

Brady scored takedowns in all three rounds and overwhelmed Buckley with a steady diet of top control and ground-and-pound, rebounding in a major way after suffering a first-round knockout loss to Michael Morlaes this past November. With the performance, Brady has now won four of his pasts five bouts to raise in title contention in the UFC’s welterweight division.

“Especially after coming in after getting TKO’d by Morales, I wasn’t mentally in that fight,” a fired-up Brady said post-fight. “But this fight camp, this fight, I was locked the f*** for 15 minutes, and that’s what happens. I didn’t get the finish, but nobody’s ever dominated Buckley that way. [Kamaru] Usman couldn’t hold him down the way I did, no one can hold him down. I deserve to be in the top five. I’m right back in this b****.”

Brady was tabbed as more than a 2-to-1 betting favorite until a flood of late money poured in on Buckley throughout Saturday morning, suddenly pushing Brady to almost a 2-to-1 underdog and forcing some sportsbooks to limit action on the bout.

The situation triggered a concerning sense of deja vu for a sport that’s becoming all too familiar with betting controversies. In November, featherweight Isaac Dulgarian was cut from the UFC following a bizarre first-round loss to Yadier del Valle at UFC Vegas 110 that immediately came under fire for irregular pre-fight betting patterns and Dulgarian’s suspicious performance. The FBI ultimately became involved in Dulgarian’s loss and an investigation is believed to be ongoing.

Featherweight Darrick Minner was similarly cut by the UFC in 2022 following a suspicious first-round loss to Shayilan Nuerdanbieke that resulted in NAC suspensions for both Minner and his coach James Krause. Prior to that, South Korean lightweight Tae Hyun Bang was sentenced to 10 months in prison alongside three others involved in a scheme to throw a 2015 fight against Leo Kuntz on a UFC event held in South Korea.

Most recently, a lightweight bout between long-time veterans Alexander Hernandez and Michael Johnson was scrapped this past January in the hours before UFC 324 amid suspicious betting movement toward a Johnson win. UFC CEO Dana White confirmed after the event that Hernandez vs. Johnson was canceled due to the irregularities.

“We got called from the gaming integrity service and I said, ‘I’m not doing this s*** again,’“ White said in January, “so we pulled the fight.”

Fortunately, Saturday’s bout between Brady and Buckley did not meet the same fate.

Check out full UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland results and highlights here, as well as Uncrowned’s play-by-play for the entire main card.