One of the biggest attractions of the year is the return of Leon Edwards in front of his home crowd at the O2 Arena in London. Initially set to face Jack Della Maddalena, Edwards’ plans took a massive turn when the UFC decided to book the Australian contender against reigning welterweight champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Now, ‘Rocky’ is set to take on the dangerous #5-ranked Sean Brady, a grappling specialist with a relentless ground game. The fight promises to be a masterclass as it will be a clash of two different styles.

‘Rocky’ is, without a doubt, one of the best strikers in the division and is capable of knocking out his opponents. However, for Brady, this will be a chance for him to showcase his wrestling skills against the former champion. The 32-year-old American fighter during a recent conversation with TNT Sports made it clear that he wants to do the unthinkable and submit ‘Rocky’. For the unversed, Edwards has never been submitted in his career but Brady said, “I think I’m going to choke out Leon Edwards in the O2 arena. I’d say second round or third round. If I had to give a prediction.”  

While the former champion is focused on his next opponent, his loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 still haunts him. ‘Rocky’ believes he definitely is the better fighter between the two and, during a recent conversation with Ariel Helwani, made some serious claims. Combat Forever HQ took to their Instagram account to share the details of what Edwards said.

The post read, “I feel my reactions were slow. I could think in my head what I wanted to do. But for some reason, my body and my mind wasn’t in sync like it is normally. Even though he got the win, it was still a close fight on my worst day. This is a guy I know I can beat 9 out of 10 times.” 

Their fight at UFC 304 was nowhere close as ‘Remember the Name’ earned a unanimous victory. Edwards struggled against the pressure of the 36-year-old and failed to defend his title. Despite his loss, ‘Rocky’ is still one of the most talented fighters in the division and can get back to title contention if he wins his next fight. But it seems the fans online are not quite impressed with what ‘Rocky’ had to say. Let us take a look at what they had to say.

Fans remind Leon Edwards about his loss against Belal Muhammad at UFC 304

Since the time the fight was announced between the two, the then-champion didn’t quite consider Muhammad a worthy opponent. But the whole scenario changed once the final bell rang at UFC 304. Edwards is now chasing the champion and is constantly trying to get his attention with comments like these. But fans feel ‘Rocky’ might have gone a bit far with the claims he made while speaking to Helwani.

One user pointed out that if Edwards loses yet another fight against Muhammad, his statement will change, “Leon if he loses again: ‘This is a guy I know I can beat 8 out of 10 times.'” Another user reminded Edwards about how dominant Muhammad was in the clash. He made it clear that even if they fought multiple times the result would be the same and commented, “Honestly I think Belal beats him 1 million out of 1 million times.” 

Muhammad is one of those fighters who has an excellent ground game and fantastic cardio. He kept the pressure intact at UFC 304 and won the fight convincingly as pointed out by one user, “It wasn’t even close, 4-1″ One user also echoed the same sentiments and asked the former champion a very important question. He commented, “Are you drunk? The fight was never close” Edwards previously said that he could beat the champion ten out of ten times. But he has now changed his opinion which was pointed out by one user, “Last time it was 10 out of 10 times” 

Edwards after his fight blamed the early timings for his lackluster performance at UFC 304. One user feels he might just repeat the same if he loses his upcoming fight and said, “Delusional Leon cannot accept when he is getting pushed back and punched he turns into a different fighter and the excuse of time is baseless since belal dealt with the same I imagine if Brady beats him this weekend it will be the time or weather again” 

Another user felt Edwards was being a bit overconfident and the reason might the damage he took in the previous fight, “Lost first 1 but can win 9 overconfidence ( brain damage by the slam)”. 

All these comments point out that fans think ‘Rocky’ might struggle in a second fight with Muhammad. However, for that to happen he will first have to get past the challenge of Sean Brady. Do you think Leon Edwards can win his next fight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.