Leon Edwards’s hopes of welterweight title redemption may have gone up in smoke, for good.
UFC London really felt like a must-win for “Rocky”. In his first fight since Belal Muhammad exposed the holes in his grappling game to snatch gold from his grasp at UFC 304, he was posed with yet another unfavourable matchup against BJJ specialist Sean Brady.
With a home crowd behind him and a diversified coaching team that apparently addressed his shortfalls on the mat, this was the opportunity for Edwards to rediscover his mojo after such an underwhelming title defeat. Things, however, did not go to plan.
Suffering a fourth-round submission loss to the American, Edwards witnessed his already-declining stock take a damning blow and will now have to come to terms with the fact his dreams of becoming a two-time champion are fading from existence.
Philadelphia-proud Brady, on the other hand, has never been hotter and played into his role as de facto villain by sending the London crowd home sour.
“I dominated Leon every round,” he said in the UFC London post-fight press conference. “No one’s ever did it like me. Then I submitted him and made him quit in front of his home town.
“If we were in Philly, you ain’t making me quit in front of my home town, I’ll tell you that. I’m going to sleep, son. Just remember that.”
We could now be at a point of no return for Rocky. The issue Edwards has faced throughout his career in the UFC is a lack of draw. He’s not the most captivating on the mic, nor is he the most explosive, exciting fighter. But before very recently, he had one crucial characteristic that would propel him up the rankings: he won, a lot.
A 10-fight undefeated streak over the course of six-plus years was what it took to finally be considered for title contention by Dana White. It was in that long-awaited shot at gold, against unshakeable then-champion Kamaru Usman, that Edwards finally captured the imagination of audiences beyond British borders.
“Headshot, dead.” From the brink of elimination, Edwards produced a last-gasp head-kick KO that was heard around the world, and produced a rousing a post-fight promo to go with it. At that point, he was on top of the world.
But after failing to set the world alight in two defences against Usman and Colby Covington, which both went to decision, enthusiasm had dropped again. Even with the title, Edwards was rapidly losing momentum. Then against Muhammad, he was stripped of what made him marketable.
Suffering his first defeat in eight years, the “unbeatable” mystique surrounding the Birmingham fighter disappeared – along with his belt, of course. It was back to the drawing board.
A return to London gave Edwards the chance to claw some of his appeal back. He was initially pitted against Jack Della Maddalena, a more favourable stylistic test for Rocky due to the Australian’s striking-heavy approach.
But after “JDM” was fast-tracked to a title shot to fill in for the injured Shavkat Rakhmonov, he was once again put in front of a grappler in the form of Brady. Edwards had a major challenge on his hands, and it was imperative that he learned his lessons from eight months prior.
In the main-event at a sold-out O2 Arena, he started the boom-or-bust headliner with promise. He was landing shots in the first round and kept things on the feet for the vast majority of the opening five minutes.
However, it became all but a repeat of the Muhammad bout from the second onwards. Brady steamrolled the former champion. When he got Edwards down, he would keep Edwards down – and after weathering the first-round storm, he recorded a control time of 10:16 over the remaining 11:39 of the clash.
Suffice to say it wasn’t simply a cut-and-copy performance of Muhammad’s last summer, though. Brady did something the current champion – or any fighter, professional or amateur, for that matter – had been unable to do. He got the finish over Edwards.
Cinching in a guillotine choke after once again getting Rocky to the ground early in the fourth, the Philly native forced a tap out of Edwards.
“I think I did a lot better than Belal did,” Brady added post-fight. “I think Belal lost a couple of rounds. He had his back taken for an entire round. I think it was 3-2 when they fought. I dominated Leon every round.
“That’s how you beat Leon. The blueprint was kind of written in a lot of his fights and I just did it a lot better than anybody else has been able to do it.”
Like his style or not, finishing Edwards puts Brady in a league of his own and undoubtedly propels him into title contention. Brady will now have a keen eye on Muhammad’s title clash with JDM at UFC 315 and could be in line to take on the winner.
But as one top contender comes to the forefront, another has been cast into the wilderness. Where Edwards goes from here is anyone’s guess.
Back-to-back losses is damaging for anyone – but when you lack the insurance policy that comes with being a major overseas draw, akin to a Tony Ferguson or Michael Chandler, it puts you in a treacherous situation.
Edwards will require an almighty career renaissance if he still seeks to retire as a two-time UFC champion.
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