Leon Edwards is getting back inside the octagon since July of 2019. He will be fighting a tough Belal Muhammad on 13 March. Muhammad who is riding on a four fight win streak. Although Edwards might come in a decent favorite, there is still his ring rust in question since he was inactive for quite a while.
It is a shame that not a lot of people know how good Leon Edwards is. Even Joe Rogan thinks that he might be one of the most underrated fighter in the welterweight division. He is currently the number 3 ranked fighter in his division yet people still think that he is not a top level fighter.
Just to show Edward’s resume, He is coming off a dominant win against Rafael Dos Anjos. Everyone knows how good Dos Anjos is, he was a former lightweight champion and even fought for the interim welterweight title.
Other than that he has beaten Gunnar Nelson, Donald Cerrone and many others. He also owns one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history.
His last loss was against the current champion, Kamaru Usman. Even Usman said that Edwards was his toughest opponent, just because Edwards has that unbreakable mentality. Just shows that Edwards is one of the best fighters people don’t know about.
Had the pandemic not happened, Edwards might have potentially fought for the title by now. He was originally booked to main event in his home-country against Tyron Woodley. An impressive win against a former champion would potentially give him a title shot, instead Gilbert Burns stepped in and took the opportunity.
The UFC then tried to push Khamzat Chimaev right through the top rankings in just a few fights, so they booked Edwards vs Chimaev as a fight night main-event. Unfortunately, Edwards pulled out of the fight due to being positive for COVID.
In their second and third attempt for rebooking, it was Chimaev’s side that pulled out. Sadly, Chimaev is still recovering from the COVID. According to Dana White, Chimaev just did not rest his body which led to him not being able to recover properly.
Back to Edwards, He is now scheduled to face Belal Muhammad, a fight where he risks too much to gain less. Muhammad is #13 ranked in the division, so a win will likely not increase his rankings. The only benefit would be to remove ring rust. He originally wanted to fight Colby Covington for a title contender fight but Covington turned it down.
