Athletes
Leon Edwards: Confident Champ Aiming For Greatness
Welterweight Titleholder Discusses Fighting On British Soil, Future Goals Ahead Of UFC 304 Title Clash With Belal Muhammad
A different side of Leon Edwards is coming out this week in Manchester.
Nearly two years into his championship reign and set to defend his title on home soil for the second time this weekend when he takes on Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 at Co-op Live on Saturday, “Rocky” is moving, speaking, existing like a man that is 100 percent comfortable in his own skin and unwavering in his belief that he is the best welterweight on the planet.
“It’s funny,” Edwards says with a smile and chuckle when asked about the non-stop barrage of comments coming from Muhammad since it became clear he would become the next man to share the Octagon with the Birmingham-based champion. “For me, it’s all just banter, but he’s taking it serious; saying he hates me, hates my brother, my coaches, but it is what it is.
Order UFC 304: Edwards vs Muhammad 2
“We’re here to compete. We’re gonna get to compete on Saturday night, we’re gonna see who the better man is — I truly believe it’s me and that’s all it is.
“It’s easier to deal with someone like Belal,” he adds, comparing his current challenger to the more poison-tongued adversary he faced last time out, Colby Covington, who lobbed weighty, personal grenades at Edwards in the run-up to their clash at UFC 296 in December, when the champion swept the scorecards to retain his title. “I feel like he’s trying to talk himself into the fight, more than anything.
“Even like yesterday in the elevator, where it opened and he were standing right there,” Edwards continues, alluding to the clip currently making the rounds on social media where Muhammad is on the elevator in the host hotel only for the doors to open and show Edwards waiting to board. “I think he thought I wasn’t gonna go into the lift, so I went straight into the lift, told him to press No. 3, he pressed it, got out, went about my day.
MORE UFC 304: Main Event Spotlight | Co-Main Event Spotlight | Fight By Fight Preview
“Then I woke up on the morning, I was at interviews and was like, ‘What the hell is going on?’”
Interactions like that have a way of becoming a much bigger deal on the internet than they are in real life, but for Edwards, it’s the real-life bits surrounding this weekend’s return to Manchester that are genuinely meaningful.
Saturday marks the second time that the 32-year-old standout has headlined a pay-per-view in his home country, having successfully defended the title at UFC 286 last March in London, where he out-hustled former champ Kamaru Usman in the second of their consecutive championship battles.
It’s also the second time Edwards has competed on a pay-per-view event in the city known for its musical exports and Premier League sides, having faced off with Albert Tumenov on the preliminary card at UFC 204 in the autumn of 2016.
Joining Us For UFC 304 In Manchester? Get Your Tickets!
“It means the world, especially the way my career went, up and down, so now to be headlining one of the biggest — new arena also, Co-op Live, one of the biggest indoor arenas in the UK, sold out — it’s good,” offers Edwards, a smile coming to his face and his eyes lighting up as he speaks about leading the charge for the British contingent competing on Saturday and fighting relatively close to home. “I’m looking forward to hearing the pop when I walk out, having a look around, taking it all in, and going out there and performing. It’s gonna be good.
“It’s an hour-twenty from my house; all my friends and family are down,” he adds, acknowledging that as good as the previous London events were, Saturday’s card is bound to have a completely different vibe. “This is like a proper UK card. London was great, but I feel like this is gonna be way better, top London.
“I did,” Edwards says excitedly when his participation at UFC 204 comes up. “Michael Bisping was the headliner, and I fought at like two or three in the morning, similar to this one, and it was just as crazy as fighting at 6pm or 11 o’clock.
“I’m excited to go out there. 204 and now 304; it’s mad.”
UFC 304 EMBEDDED: All Episodes
Edwards won by finish that night, and many are wondering if a similar result could come this weekend as he runs things back with Muhammad.
In addition to being a championship bout, this weekend’s headlining clash is also a rematch, as Edwards and Muhammad previously faced off on March 13, 2021, at the UFC APEX. Edwards, not yet champion, was scheduled to face Khamzat Chimaev, who was forced out of the pairing for a second time due to continued health issues, opening the door for Muhammad to step in on short notice.
Edwards won the first round handily, wobbling Muhammad with the left side head kick that would eventually go on to fell Usman and earn Edwards the title. While Muhammad was able to weather the storm and clear the cobwebs by the end of the frame, the opening stanza was clearly Edwards’.
Just 15 seconds into the second round, Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye, with the Chicago native instantly bellowing in agony, clutching his right eye. Unable to continue, the bout was declared a no contest. Muhammad has been itching for an opportunity to run it back ever since, and now, Edwards is set to oblige him, confident that things won’t be too different from that initial five minutes they shared inside the Octagon a little over three years ago in Las Vegas.
“This is my second rematch in the UFC,” begins Edwards, a slight hint of annoyance present in his voice as he addresses Muhammad, who enters on a five-fight winning streak and unbeaten in his last 10 appearances. “(Facing) a guy that the fight ended in an incident, an eye poke, and now I get to go out there and shut him up.
“His range is gonna be the same, his speed with his hands, his speed with his feet, his strength in the grappling — that won’t change over the years,” continues the champion, explaining the benefits of having previously shared the Octagon with the challenger. “I think he’s improved a bit, skill-for-skill, but his makeup as a fighter is still there. I think that’s what it is: I feel I’m the better athlete, better fighter, the better mind, and I’ll prove that again.
Day Off | Leon Edwards
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
Day Off | Leon Edwards
/
“Everyone seen the way the first fight was going anyway, but the way he talks, he thinks he was winning the first fight, which is confusing for me,” he adds, smirking. “But like I said, Saturday night we get to prove who is the best welterweight in the world and it truly is me, so we’ll see it.”
As he continues to deliver thoughtful and earnest answers, you can see just how comfortable Edwards has become in his current position as both UFC welterweight champion and a burgeoning star in the mixed martial arts world.
It’s a far cry from the soft-spoken version of Edwards that used to inhabit fight week; his lack of comfort with doing media occasionally coming across as shyness and a reticence to be recognized as an ascending talent.
But now it’s like all those years under the radar and breaking through to stand atop the division have fortified him, providing him with a platform where he can speak his mind without fear of sounding too self-assured and prideful, because given what he’s achieved, how could you possibly challenge him for being either?
“Proud — proud of myself, proud of believing in what I believe in,” he says when asked what it means to be at this stage of his career — champion, headlining in Manchester, leading the current crop of U.K. talents into the weekend and overall. “At times, not a lot of people believed in this dream that I had — I believed it, my team believed it — and that’s why now I can come into fight week happy, come into fight week with my head held high because it truly is my belief that helped me get here.
“There was no media push like everyone else had,” he adds, smiling, but clearly still emboldened by that fact. “I had to work my a** off to get here, and now I’m here, I’m content in my skin and I can go and perform.”
While he’s certainly not overlooking or underestimating Muhammad, Edwards does have bigger plans, loftier goals that he’s eager to chase and happy to speak about as he readies to make the walk once again this weekend.
“I want to go on my own little “Rocky” era,” he says. “All the guys that everyone thinks are ‘the next guys,’ I want to go out there and beat them all.
State Of The Welterweight Division | July 2024
Unlock MORE of your inner combat sports fan with UFC Fight Pass! Fighting is what we live for. And no one brings you MORE live fights, new shows, and events across multiple combat sports from around the world. With a never-ending supply of fighting in every discipline, there’s always something new to watch. Leave it to the world’s authority in MMA to bring you the Ultimate 24/7 platform for MORE combat sports, UFC Fight Pass!
State Of The Welterweight Division | July 2024
/
“My aim, what’s driving me now is to be the best welterweight of all time. That’s GSP, so I need to beat all his records as far as numbers go so that when I look back when I’m old, (I can say), ‘Okay, you did it.’ That’s what’s driving me right now.”
And he aims to continue that run to the top of the all-time greats list this weekend, by delivering the kind of performance that reinforces his position as the best welterweight in the sport today.
“A finish — I feel like that’s what I’ve trained for,” Edwards offers without hesitation when asked how he sees Saturday’s rematch playing out. “I’ve felt him in there, I know I can hurt him, and I’m gunning for the finish.
“I think Round 3 is where I can take him out.”
UFC 304: Edwards vs Muhammad 2 took place live from Co-op Live in Manchester, England on July 27, 2024. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!
Tags
