'Right those wrongs'… Leon Edwards teammate backs him to bounce back from Belal Muhmmad loss despite UFC London switch up
03/13/2025 08:54 AM
‘Rocky’ finds himself back in the role of contender after his incredible win streak came to an end last time out.
Leon Edwards is now focusing on reclaiming the welterweight title after suffering a one-sided loss in the main event of UFC 304 last July.
A rematch with Belal Muhammad could be just one fight away for Edwards, even if the champion says otherwise following their history with one another.
The former titleholder is now set to return in the main event of UFC London on March 22 where he will headline the O2 Arena for the second time.
With Muhammad joking that he stole Edwards’ opponent, the welterweight shake up that recently took place has meant that the Brit has needed to adjust his preparations.
Jai Herbert expects Leon Edwards to rebound in style despite change of opponent
Leon Edwards was previously scheduled to face Jack Della Maddalena in the London main event until the Australian contender stepped up to challenge for the title at UFC 315 in May.
In Della Maddalena’s place, the #5-ranked Sean Brady is now heading to England as he looks to earn the biggest win of his career to also secure a rematch with Belal Muhammad.
March 22 also sees several of Edwards’ teammates in action with Jai Herbert taking on Chris Padilla earlier on in the night.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, ‘The Black Country Banger’ gave his thoughts on whether the change of opponent will impact ‘Rocky’ in his return.
“He’s such a well-rounded fighter and he’s got the experience so that adaptation can be made more or less straight away. He was coming up against a southpaw striker-boxer and now he’s up against like a grappler in Brady but the thing is with Leon, he’s always training everything so it’s not like he’s totally focused on one thing. He’s a smart guy so he’ll be well prepared to get the win and get back to title contention.”
After losing his title in an uncharacteristic performance, there is a lot on the line for Edwards in this fight but Herbert doesn’t think that this pressure will faze him.
His fellow Team Renegade fighter referenced how the last time that he closed the show in the capital, it was a signature night for the defending champion.
“He’s gonna respond with a top quality performance. The last time he fought in London against (Kamaru) Usman, he had one of his best performances I’ve seen. That was an incredible performance so he’s going back there and he’s going to look to right those wrongs from the last fight and get his title back and I believe he’ll do that.”
Leon Edwards believes that he has unfinished business with Belal Muhammad
Leon Edwards has made it very clear that his focus right now is on winning back the welterweight title and avenging his loss to Belal Muhammad.
Both of their previous encounters have additional context that is required after their 2021 clash ended in a no contest when Muhammad suffered an eye poke whilst his opponent was seemingly controlling the fight.
Their rematch produced an impressive performance from the challenger whilst Edwards stated that he didn’t feel himself due to the fight taking place in the early hours of the morning in Manchester.
With a statement win over Sean Brady, he’s right back in the conversation alongside the likes of Shavkat Rakhmonov who is currently on the side lines.
