Leon Edwards is confident he could attract 90,000 fans to Wembley Stadium for the first defence of his UFC welterweight title.
Edwards, 31, is hoping to defend his belt at the venue after knocking out Kamaru Usman with a last-gasp head kick in August to win the title. 'Rocky' became the first Jamaican-born and second British champion in promotional history with the win and he will likely defend the belt against Usman in a trilogy fight next year.
The UFC have never held an event at a stadium in the UK, with the previous cards in the region taking place at arenas. Edwards said UFC boss Dana White suggested the idea of a stadium for his next fight despite previously ruling out the idea when Paddy Pimblett suggested it. If Edwards was to fill out Wembley for his first title defence, it would trump the UFC's current attendance record of 57,127 which was set in 2019 when Israel Adesanya knocked out Robert Whittaker at the Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.
Asked whether he could sell out Wembley, Edwards replied: "Yeah, 100 per cent. I think mixed martial arts has grown so much in the UK and it's been waiting for a show like that to happen in Europe.
"Now you've got a world champion from the UK I think it's the perfect time, especially with all the other [British] fighters doing well in the sport I think now is the time to do it, to keep growing MMA in this part of the world."
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Former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor wants to add a third belt to his collection and has stated he will compete at welterweight in his comeback fight. Touching on whether he would receive the backing of a London crowd in a potential fight against McGregor, Edwards said: "Yeah [they'd get behind] me 100 per cent. Conor's not really on my radar at the moment, the welterweights that are active now that's my main focus. If it does happen then so be it.
"I think he [McGregor] probably will come back, he's got big now as well so I think he'll definitely come back at welterweight and like I said, we've got the same management team so it's a fight that would be easy to make if it was to happen.
"Do I think I'd win? 100 per cent. I think I'm the younger and more technical fighter but my focus isn't on Conor at all, because I've got killers around me who are active now that are more challenging that McGregor."
