Can Leon Edwards bounce back?

The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to London March 22nd with a fight card stacked with young and local talent. Headlining the card is former welterweight world champion Leon Edwards. Edwards lost his title to Belal Muhammad in July of last year and took a long layoff to recover from a back injury. In an interview with Submission Radio, Edwards’ head coach Dave Lovell said: “I’m not making excuses for him, he had a few niggles in camp, his back was niggling him so he couldn’t wrestle the way he wanted to offensively and defensively because of the niggle that occurred 2 or 3 times.”

Edwards was initially meant to have his comeback fight against Aussie superstar Jack Della Maddalena, but because of an overnight opponent change, he now faces off against surging contender Sean Brady. Maddalena is set to face champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in May.

Brady has recently re-inserted himself into title contention after a statement victory against the divisional veteran Gilbert Burns. Brady was on a hot streak until 2022, where he took a loss to the current champion Belal Muhammad. In his fight with Burns, Brady showcased an entirely new side of his game.

He utilised excellent pressure in the striking and the grappling to secure a dominant win over Burns- a mainstay of the Welterweight top five. This is a style Edwards has struggled against, most notably against former champion Kamaru Usman and current champion Belal Muhammad, both of whom have a win over Edwards.

Though Edwards has wilted under pressure before, nobody can forget his career-reviving comeback knockout of the elite Usman in their second fight. Both men will have to dig deep in what’s sure to be a fight worthy of being the main event of the evening.