Leon Edwards can blaze comeback path at UFC London… is British star previous his peak or will he dispatch Sean Brady to tee up title shot?

Leon Edwards toiled for years before attaining stardom, adulation and the championship belt he craved. 

A viral head kick moment against Kamaru Usman, glorious homecoming and satisfying shutting of Colby Covington‘s mouth followed – but now the British star is on the outside looking in again. 

He headlines UFC London this Saturday against Sean Brady, 32, as the betting underdog and it already feels as though ‘Rocky’ risks becoming the forgotten man. 

Why has the 33-year-old slipped so quickly into the shadows, at least in the mind of some fans, since his flat, faltering dethroning last July?  

The Birmingham-based fighter has tended to shy away from the spotlight and always done his best talking with his limbs.

Perhaps it was the damp squib of a battle against Belal Muhammad at an ungodly time in the morning that added to the perception that he is past his peak. 

Ian Garry, Shavkat Rakhmanov and Jack Della Maddalena are the shiny new toys of the welterweight division but Edwards is adamant his first loss in a decade was a blip with a clear explanation.  

‘It was a little bit [of looking past him],’ he told Ariel Helwani. ‘I feel like the whole thing was wrong. People in my ear saying, “You’re gonna batter him, blah, blah, blah.” That little injury, that time zone — everything was [set up] to fail, looking back at it now. 

‘In the moment, I truly believed I was going to win the fight. It is what it is. No excuses. Like I said, on my worst day, he won one round over me to get a decision, and that’s it. I’m no longer focusing on that fight and I’ll get it back, for sure.’

The timing of the fight, moved to the early hours of the morning to accommodate an American TV audience was a point of major contention for Edwards. 

‘Never again,’ he insisted. That 4am/5am walkout was madness. I tried my best to get into it, but I just couldn’t.

‘I just feel like my reactions were slow. I could think in my head what I wanted to do and what I trained to do.

‘But for some reason, my body and mind just weren’t in sync as it normally is in fights. I walked out at like 5am. It felt like that would warm me up and let me know: ‘You’ve to fight now!’

There will be no such issues this Saturday with a more familiar main event time around 10:00pm. 

Edwards says he has been told a victory this weekend will immediately propel him back to a title shot, either against his old foe Muhammad or Della Maddalena, depending on who wins their UFC 315 showdown. 

After such sustained success for the Jamaican-born star over the last 10 years, why do the money men favour his opponent in enemy territory? 

His only defeat in 18 professional fights was also against Muhammad and it’s a mightily impressive CV. 

The Philadelphia native, who trained as a car mechanic before making it in MMA, thinks he has the tools to break his opponent down. 

He believes he’ll be the first man to ever finish Edwards in the octagon foresees a submission win. 

Brady told TNT Sports: ‘To be completely honest, I can definitely see a submission, but I’m very confident in my striking, I’m very confident in my ground and pound.

‘But Leon’s never been finished – I would love to get my arms around that neck of his and make him tap out in front of his home crowd.

‘He’s going to try to knock me out, I’m going to try to do the same thing to him, but I’m going to try to get on his back and strangle him.’

He added: ‘There’s a path to beat Leon, you just have to stick to it. Kamaru was doing that in the second fight until he had a lapse in judgement for one second, and that’s all it takes. 

‘So for me, 25 minutes of being absolutely present against Leon is what it’s going to take to beat him, and I’m more than prepared to go and do that.’

Edwards is indeed a calculated fighter and much of his success has come with intelligent movement and a refusal to put himself at risk. 

That can lead to the kind of tactical, stagnant battles his second fight with Usman (until the incredible KO) and his latest defeat by Muhammad became. 

But Brady only has one five-rounder in the bank so far and Edwards’ championship experience could be influential on Saturday. 

Edwards has only ever really been interested in competing and since his defeat last July has only posted 11 times on Instagram to his 1.4million followers. 

A high profile Louis Theroux interview aside, the 33-year-old has largely been sharpening his tools for a comeback that has flown under the radar. 

As the second ever British UFC champion after Michael Bisping, the skillful all-rounder is still not given the kind of reverence his achievements justify. 

If he can develop into a ruthless finisher – eight of his last ten have gone the distance – that will surely change. 

Usman underwent a similar type of evolution and showed that a killer instinct can still flourish later into a career. A comeback story is also always compelling and it will be fascinating to see how Edwards reacts to his first major setback since way back in 2015. 

Brady is a wrestling-heavy, powerful and shorter man – a style Edwards is used to by now. 

And the stats are worth diving into. Brady averages just over four significant strikes landed per minute, way above Edwards’ 2.68. 

The accuracy of both men is around the 55 percent mark while Brady averages 3.49 takedowns every 15 minutes in comparison to the Brit’s 1.25. 

Those numbers suggest Brady will be the aggressor and look to drag Edwards down, while leaving openings for the sniper-like striking of the home fighter. 

It’s a fight with major ramifications for the division and a perfect chance for Edwards to remind everyone of his class. 

The London card may lack the depth and star power of previous integrations but if Edwards can mark Saturday as the start of his ascent back to the top the thousands inside the O2 Arena will trot off into the night with a spring in their step.