What do you think would have happened if UFC 304 took place at 10 pm ET instead of 5 am ET? Would Leon Edwards have defeated Belal Muhammad at the event? Well, the former welterweight champion certainly believes so. It was all because of the jumbled sleep cycle that messed up his performance against ‘Remember The Name’. But what does he think of his training camp for UFC Fight Night 254?

In a recent video that went viral on the internet, ‘Rocky’ can be seen working out with a body full of energy and a heart full of hope. Even though Jack Della Maddalena had to pull out of the bout, Edwards didn’t give up and agreed to take on Sean Brady at UFC Fight Night 254. And this time, he seemed pretty confident regarding his victory. Well, he attributed his previous issues due to the unfavorable timing.

‘Rocky’ said, “The Belal camp was, it was difficult to get like obviously the right training partners in to come and train at five in the morning, four in the morning. It was difficult. But now it’s at home time. 10:00 pm walk probably. After 10:30 pm walk. All the boys in the camp as well so it’s perfect. The gym now is buzzing. You can tell from like, all the boys, everyone is eager to learn, everyone is eager to train. Everyone is fit and in shape as well. So, it’s been good.”

Of course, this wasn’t the first time such words escaped Leon Edwards’ mouth. During an appearance on Link Up TV, ‘Rocky’ weighed in on his chances of getting a title shot after getting beating Della Maddalena. It was indeed a time before the Australian pulled out of the game. This meant that he would get a rematch against Belal Muhammad. But would the former welterweight champion manage to win this time? 

He does like to believe in the possibility of becoming a champion once again. He said, “Not fight at 5 o’clock in the morning. I feel like that affected my performance. I didn’t feel myself. … The sleep thing, the late hours, that made a big difference to me in that fight.” But did you know that ‘Rocky’ had hired a sleep coach to help him with his training? This act pushed Tom Aspinall to steal some information from the former champ. 

Tom Aspinall copies Leon Edwards’ sleep pattern

Having the main card at 3 am local time was quite problematic for the fighters at UFC 304. It was also the time when Aspinall was set to fight Curtis Blaydes in the co-main event. To win, the fighters had to ensure that they managed their circadian rhythm perfectly. To deal with this, Edwards hired an F1 sleep coach and followed a particular sleep pattern. Unfortunately, this didn’t quite help the former champion. But it worked wonders for the interim heavyweight champion.

During a conversation with Title Sports Network before UFC 304, Aspinall said, “Leon has employed a sleep specialist. I knew about this before because I know Leon’s manager, so I was kind of like, I’m not going to set anything in stone in my mind until I spoke to Leon on what he’s doing. Leon basically gave me a full breakdown of his sleep pattern. So I’m essentially going to copy Leon without paying a sleep specialist. That’s the plan. I don’t want to pay anybody, so I’m just getting the advice off Leon and I’m just following what Leon’s doing.”

Now, Edwards has a chance to grab a win with his evolving skills at UFC Fight Night 254. And after that, we might just get to witness a war between Muhammad and Edwards for the third time. ‘Rocky’ has already trained enough to beat ‘Remember The Name’ and if the timing goes right, he can actually do that. All we need to do now is wait and watch the story unfold. 

What do you think of Edwards’ excuse? Do you think he could have really defeated the Palestinian mixed martial artist had the timing been better? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.