Sean Brady says septic bursitis caused UFC 290 withdrawal, rips Jack Della Maddalena for saying he 'sh*t the bed'

Sean Brady isn’t happy with Jack Della Maddalena’s reaction to his withdrawal from their UFC 290 fight.

Brady (15-1 MMA, 5-1 UFC) was forced out of his welterweight matchup against Della Maddalena (14-2 MMA, 4-0 UFC) due to septic bursitis – an infection on his elbow that spread and caused serious inflammation. As a result, Brady was hospitalized.

A disappointed Maddalena took to Instagram to call for a new opponent, but took a shot at Brady in the process by saying he “sh*t the bed.” Brady released a statement to explain what happened, and was annoyed by Maddalena’s comments.

“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 4 weeks of IV antibiotics through a picc line. 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 a 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.

To Jack, I’m sorry we won’t be able to get to share the cage together, I know you worked just as hard as me but as for saying ‘Brady sh*t 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.

To my fans, thank you for the continued support. This is just a bump in the road for Team Brady and we’ll be back doing what we do when I’m healed up. Love you guys.”

With Brady out, Maddalena now will face promotional newcomer Josiah Harrell at Saturday’s event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ABC/ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 290.