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Leon Edwards (22-4) will return to the octagon in front of his home crowd on Saturday, March 22 to face Sean Brady (17-1). 'Rocky' had established himself as a dominant champion since taking the welterweight belt from Kamaru Usman with his mythical "pound for pound, headshot, dead", but last July Belal Muhammad (24-3) brought him down to earth after a dominant performance that prevented an immediate rematch between the two. The O2 Arena in London will witness the return of the Birmingham fighter, who has justified the poor image of his last performance on injuries and the schedule imposed by the UFC.
"I had injuries going into that fight, but what really made the difference was the time. It was five in the morning. I thought 'it's Belal, I can beat Belal'," he told UFC microphones. The Palestinian gave little chance to an Edwards who was on a run of 12 wins and one no contest. In fact, that 'no contest' came against Belal himself in 2021 due to an involuntary eye poke by the Englishman, who was clearly winning the fight
The fight last July left an open wound for Edwards that he has not yet been able to heal, although a victory over Brady would give him a chance to redeem himself. Meanwhile, Belal will defend the belt for the first time on May 10 against Jack Della Maddalena. "I think Jack will win. His boxing is what will probably bring down Belal," said 'Rocky', whose hatred for the Palestinian is palpable in every statement
Belal is a guy I can beat nine times out of ten
The Englishman had a childhood linked to criminal gangs from his native Kingston, Jamaica, to Birmingham, where a settling of scores took his father. His mother avoided the same fate for 'Rocky' by enrolling him in a gym, where he trained to become a world champion. Now, Leon is living an open war with the man who took that status away from him. "Belal is a guy I can beat nine times out of ten. He said that if he had lost to me he would have retired. I wish he would retire, because he's annoying. The belt doesn't suit him," he said.
A blow for their coach
In the same vein were the statements of Dave Lovell -Edwards' coach-, who before his pupil's return to the octagon itted that the defeat against Muhammad did a lot of damage. "It's a bitter pill to swallow, but I don't take anything away from Belal. For me it's a bitter pill to swallow just the fact of how Leon lost, for his mediocre effort for whatever reason, because we all know that Leon Edwards was 30, 35 or 40 percent that night," he told 'The Ariel Helwani Show'.
For me, it's a bitter pill to swallow just how Leon lost, for his mediocre effort
Lovell became very famous after 'Rocky's' head kick to Usman to become the new champion. Edwards was clearly losing the fight before the fifth round, but in the break his trainer gave him a speech that ignited his inner flame. Against Belal that flame did not come out,and Dave guesses why. "When have you ever heard of an athlete in England competing at six o'clock in the morning? It's never been heard of, and it will certainly never be heard of again," he said.
Belal is fed up with excuses
As expected, Belal Muhammad has hit back at these statements to remind Edwards that it is not him who is his rival this Saturday, predicting a defeat for not being focused on what really matters. "These guys are full of excuses, that's why Brady will beat him. My prediction is that once Brady takes him down two or three times he will find the submission because Leon is mentally weak and will have flashbacks of what I did to him," he responded on his 'X' .
Leon is mentally weak and will have flashbacks of what I did to him
Initially, Belal was going to face Shavkat Rakhmonov and Edwards was going to face Jack Della Maddalena, but an injury to the Kazakh caused the Australian to receive the title shot and the Birmingham fighter also changed opponent. "I steal the belt and the opponent," Muhammad joked once it became official. It is clear that if both continue to win, they will meet again, even if it is because of the animosity they have for each other.