UFC Champion Leon Edwards Plots Double Champ Bid After Colby Covington Fight
UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards already has some big things in mind for next year after his upcoming title defense at UFC 296.
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“Rocky” claimed the UFC welterweight title last year when he handed Kamaru Usman his first loss in nearly ten years with a dramatic head kick in the final minute of their headlining bout at UFC 278.
Edwards solidified his place as champion when he bested Usman in an immediate rematch at UFC 286, and now he’s set to defend his belt for the second time against former interim titleholder Colby Covington at UFC 296 in December.
A win over Covington would add another major name to Edwards’ current unbeaten run, and during a recent interview with Sky Sports the welterweight king was asked if he was interested in moving up to middleweight to challenge for that title as well.
Edwards defeated Usman again in their rematch at UFC 286.
(Per Haljestam/USA TODAY Sports)
“100%. I feel especially with someone like [Sean] Strickland and [Dricus Du Plessis]…Any of them two would be great to fight,” Edwards answered. “I’m big myself…I feel like that would be perfect. I feel like me going out there being double champ, first ever from the UK to do it. That’s definitely one of my goals, so that’s on the cards for sure.”
The list of fighters that have held UFC titles in multiple divisions is a short one, but just last weekend Alex Pereira added his name to that list when he stopped Jiří Procházka in the main event of UFC 295 and claimed the vacant light heavyweight belt.
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Edwards obviously has a significant challenge ahead of him already in the form of Covington, but the 32-year-old feels that he could realistically fight for the middleweight title at some point next year based on the current state of his division.
Strickland upset Israel Adesanya to claim the middleweight title at UFC 293.
(Jasmin Frank/USA TODAY Sports)
“Next would be perfect, to be honest. Like I said, the division right now, there’s no one that’s exciting in the division. So for me to go out there and do that, that would be perfect…UFC 300, to put me on that card would be massive.”
The co-main event of UFC 296 will see Alexandre Pantoja defend his flyweight belt for the first time against Brandon Rovyal, but the main card also features a pair of intriguing welterweight bouts with Shavkat Rakhmonov taking on Stephen Thompson and Ian Machado Garry squaring off with Vicente Luque.
Both Rakhmonov and Garry are currently unbeaten in their careers, and an impressive performance from either of those men at UFC 296 might encourage Edwards to stick around and defend his welterweight title again before he tries to win a second UFC belt.
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