2025 hasn’t been kind to UFC headliners. With Arman Tsarukyan and Dan Hooker pulling out from their respective UFC 311 and UFC 313 bouts, this pattern seemed to haunt Dana White once again. The head honcho seemed to face yet another potential setback with one of his headliners as UFC Fight Night 255 in London approaches. A recent photo of Leon Edwards training has stirred concern among MMA fans after eagle-eyed viewers noticed what appears to be a staph infection on his right hand. Despite the alarming discovery, ‘Rocky’ has assured fans that he’s fit to compete against Sean Brady this weekend.

The picture in question raised concerns regarding the London event as the former champ’s infection looked pretty fresh, compared to the one Sean Strickland had before UFC 312, which he claimed was dried up. However, Edwards admitted that he was indeed diagnosed with a staph infection, but that was six weeks ago, and that it won’t cause any issues ahead of UFC London.

Moreover, the 33-year-old also confirmed that he had taken some medications as well to treat his infection. But that hasn’t stopped the Team Renegade star from getting in the gym, training, and working out. Hence, Edwards has assured that it won’t matter in the fight against the grappling-heavy fighter in the form of the #5 ranked 170fer.

“I actually had it like this about six weeks ago. Took antibiotics for it. It’s gone,” Leon Edwards stated during the recent media day. “No effects cardio-wise or nothing… I was fine.” Well, it will all be there to see on Fight Night if that infection turns out to be a factor in his fight.

Meanwhile, Leon Edwards suggested that the picture that has gone viral was taken more than a month ago and isn’t a recent one, claiming that it looked more like a bite mark than an infection, which was a pretty surprising statement. “I don’t think it was a staph. It was like a bite or something, but yeah, that was six weeks ago. Nothing affected, nothing. I’m good,” ‘Rocky’ added.

Staph infection or not, the Englishman is pretty confident about his chances of beating Sean Brady, as he plans to finish the American fighter, who’s lost just one of his eight UFC fights so far. Approving his confidence, a former UFC fighter appears to have sided regarding the prediction for this weekend’s showdown. Here’s what he had to say.

Ex-bantamweight fighter predicts a ‘finish’ for Leon Edwards against Sean Brady

Former UFC bantamweight fighter Brad Pickett is invested in the upcoming UFC London event. It is safe to say that he’s pretty excited about the main event between Leon Edwards and Sean Brady. While many people have questioned the former champ’s weakness against grapplers, Pickett seems to have a gut feeling that Edwards will go out and do what he has said he’ll do! Add another finish to his record.

Addressing the Englishman’s weakness against grapplers, the former 135fer believes that the UFC 304’s main event against Belal Muhammad taking place way past midnight may have been the issue behind Edwards succumbing a defeat and losing his welterweight gold. “I feel like he struggled against Belal Muhammad with the time difference. Even though he was fighting in the UK, he fought on US time as he fought at 4 am,” Brad Pickett told Bloody Elbow.

“I feel like he’s got a bit of a point to prove in this one. He’s such a talented fighter in all areas; I can see him securing a win pretty early with some strikes, or if not, a quite dominant decision victory.”

Well, what do you think about Leon Edwards’ explanation of the staph infection scare? Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below while sharing with us your predictions for the fight.