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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Leon Edwards of Jamaica rests in his corner after defeating Peter Sobotta of Poland by TKO in their welterweight bout inside The O2 Arena on March 17, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Leon Edwards of Jamaica rests in his corner after defeating Peter Sobotta of Poland by TKO in their welterweight bout inside The O2 Arena on March 17, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Leon Edwards was supposed to make a triumphant return to the UFC tonight. He took a high-risk fight against the lower-ranked Belal Muhammad just to get back inside the Octagon after over 600 days on the sidelines. Maybe that is why Edwards ended up accidentally poking Belal in the eye, a shot so bad that it caused the fight to end via no contest.
‘Rocky’ Edwards was not happy about how his return ended, knowing he was one win away from a possible title shot. He expressed his sadness in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier.
He said, “I have to ask my manager, what now? What do I do now? I went in there, focused on my next chapter to be a world champion, and had that f**king taken away from me. I am heartbroken.”
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"I'm just heartbroken."
The return of Rocky ends in the worst possible manner. #UFCVegas21 pic.twitter.com/ffrc2yKSzg
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 14, 2021
Edwards added, “I don’t believe in ring rust. I was just getting into the flow of things in the first round. The second round, I was getting into my combinations and what I’m gonna do next. To have that taken away, it’s heartbreaking. I’m disappointed. It’s been a long year and a half, lots of ups and downs. Then to come back to this? I don’t know what to say.”
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Leon Edwards: Where does he go from here?
This no-contest puts Leon Edwards in a very rough spot. He was anyway being forced to fight opponents who weren’t ranked as high as him. From the Khamzat Chimaev booking to this, Edwards hasn’t had a lot of top contenders wanting to fight him. While that may be because of Leon’s hard-to-beat style, ‘Rocky’ cannot progress until they take these fights.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 12: (L-R) Opponents Leon Edwards of Jamaica and Bulal Muhammad face off during the UFC weigh-in at UFC APEX on March 12, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Edwards had a lot to prove against Belal Muhammad. While he was looking great, he was having issues with eye pokes in the first round as well. However, the first-round eye poke didn’t do nearly as much damage as the second one.
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Edwards may be forced to wait for an opponent now, anyway. However, that opens him up to possibly matching up with a higher-name opponent like Colby Covington or Stephen Thompson. But Belal Muhammad will also be waiting in the wings to get a rematch with Leon.
