*Dana White has confirmed that Leon Edwards is the next logical challenger for the gold. That said, a date hasn’t been confirmed or finalised, and words can change all the time.
Leon Edwards is without a doubt next in line for Kamaru Usman’s welterweight championship. The champion has successfully defended his gold against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal (twice each) as well as his former teammate Gilbert Burns. He also happens to be the last person to defeat Edwards in his MMA career. This was way back in 2015, and “Rocky” alongside Usman has changed a lot since that night.
The Birmingham native is undefeated in 10 fights since then, winning 9 and having 1 no contest, earning his opportunity and then some. While unfortunately inactive throughout 2020 due to a series of fight cancellations, Edwards picked up right where he left off with a win over needle mover Nate Diaz. Diaz is the furthest thing in the world from a viable contender especially at this stage of his career, but a win over him gets people talking. A cancelled fight with Jorge Masvidal halted Leon’s 2021 momentum, but he had impressed brass enough for Dana White to say that he was going to be the next to challenge for the belt.
His previous encounter with the “Nigerian Nightmare” saw Edwards defeated across 3 rounds on the judges’ cards, in a fight that (at the time) was a breakthrough opportunity for both men to make their name. Since then, Usman is now champion with 5 defences, and Edwards has been on his tail just the same. The only thing holding Edwards back was that he let his actions do the talking instead of his Twitter account.
In a world where PPV numbers matter more than genuine contenders, Edwards was left waiting in the wings while other fighters who were more willing to talk got shots over him. That attitude seems to have changed now. Constantly pining for a crack at the gold, Edwards believes now is better than ever to get the opportunity to prove his worth in the shark tank division that is welterweight.
A date is not confirmed for the fight, and nor is it finalised that they will even meet, but it is highly likely that we will see Leon Edwards challenge for the gold this year and show off his improvements against a prime Kamaru Usman.
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