Prior to his loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester, England last July, UFC Welterweight Leon “Rocky” Edwards had not tasted defeat since December 2015.
This weekend, the Kingston-born southpaw will have an opportunity to get back into the win column when he faces number five-ranked Welterweight contender Sean Brady in the main event at UFC Fight Night 255 at the O2 Arena in London on Saturday.
In a video posted on his YouTube channel, Edwards (22-4) described his mindset heading into Saturday’s fight.
“The mindset now is just ready to kill. I feel like there’s a lot I’ve got to put right since the last fight and that’s where I’m at really. Just getting everything perfect,” he said.
“My body’s feeling good and my mentality is feeling good. Coach is happy with where I’m at so I’m in a good place,” Edwards added.
In his loss to Muhammad, which also saw him lost the UFC Welterweight Championship that he held for 16 months, Edwards found it tough to deal with the wrestling and grappling of Muhammad, being regularly taken down and controlled on the way to a unanimous decision loss.
Brady (17-1) comes into this fight with just one loss in his career. That loss came against Muhammad via TKO at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi in October, 2022.
Since then, he has racked off two impressive wins over Kelvin Gastelum and former UFC Welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns, respectively.
He will pose a similar challenge to Muhammad for Edwards with his wrestling-heavy approach.
With this in mind, Edwards says his opponent’s style didn’t deter him from accepting the challenge.
“To be fair, I couldn’t care less who it was. I’ve faced many styles like that before. There’s stuff that he does well but there’s stuff that he does bad as well so, it’s more just about going back to the drawing board, breaking it all down, talking to my coaches and just getting the game plan in tune for where I need to be fight night and so far, so good,” Edwards said.
With a win, Edwards hopes for another crack at Muhammad down the line.
“I’d love to run it back with Belal. It’s difficult to say he wins, I’d obviously prefer Belal because he was the last guy to defeat me and, even though I had an off night, that’s one I need to get back. I truly believe I am the better fighter between me and him and I’ve just got to go out there and prove it again,” Edwards explained.
With that said, his mind is squarely focused on Brady this weekend.
“I’m focused on Sean Brady right now. I’m going to go out there in London, get rid of him and then title shot next for me,” he said.
Photo courtesy of leonedwardsmma.