After a lackluster outing in the UFC 304 headliner where he dropped the welterweight title, Leon Edwards seems a bit too confident about his upcoming against #5 ranked Sean Brady. “I’m going in there to hurt him. It’s not just about Sean, it’s about what I need to put right in my head… I’m going in there to take him out,” ‘Rocky’ told Ariel Helwani. However, one of his former rivals, Kamaru Usman, has taken issue with Edwards’ claims ahead of his UFC London headliner.

Before losing to Belal Muhammad, Edwards went on an incredible 12-fight winning streak, beating some of the top names which included twin victories over ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’ Not to forget, the Englishman famously scored that “headshot dead” kick against Usman at UFC 278 to win the gold.  However, Brady recently pointed out that ‘Rocky’ appears to struggle against top grapplers.

“He lost to Belal… he was losing to Kamaru [in the second fight]… and the fight with Colby was horrible,” Brady told MMA Junkie. But why is it that the Brit allegedly struggles so much with high-caliber opponents? Well, Usman claims that Edwards has made it pretty evident to his rivals as to how to get the better of him during a fight. The former champ claimed that the English star is a “reactive fighter.”

“This is no shade in any way, shape, form, or fashion, but Leon, there’s a blueprint to something that, to beat a fight fighter like you. And that’s forward pressure,” Kamaru Usman asserted on his Pound 4 Pound podcast. “That’s the up-and-downs, the mixing of the wrestling with the striking… continuous takedowns and, or, takedown attempts. These are some things that throw you off your game and this is something that’s been proven that, with time, wears you out.”

“You’ve gotten better at defending up against the cage, you’ve gotten better at getting back up… but that doesn’t negate the fact that you do allow yourself to be taken down,” Kamaru Usman added. “Your offensive wrestling is not the greatest, and [it will cause problems] when you’re going up against a guy like Sean Brady, who will continue to attempt.”

It is safe to say that credit was given where it was due, as Usman lauded Edwards for the improvements he’s made in his fighting game, especially against grapplers. However, the former champ also claimed that it’s ‘Rocky’ himself who gets into vulnerable positions and gets himself pinned down by his opponents, and such, he sees no reason why Sean Brady won’t target that during the UFC London main event.

Despite the critical analysis, Leon Edwards remains focused on his first fight after dropping the 170-pound gold. In fact, he made his intentions pretty clear as to what lies ahead of the Sean Brady fight, which is getting the title back. But did you know there was a condition that Edwards had before accepting this fight? Here’s what he had to say.

Leon Edwards wanted to know the timings before accepting the Sean Brady fight

As we all know, the last time UFC came to the UK, the UFC 304 card went way past midnight, and not many fighters were happy with it. The promotion wanted to make way for the US audience, but ‘Rocky’ wasn’t going to have it this time. Doubling down on the fact that he’s never competing again in that time slot, Edwards claimed that he asked for the timing of UFC London before signing the dotted lines to take on the dangerous Sean Brady.

“The first thing [the UFC] said to me was, ‘We’re coming back to the UK in March.’ I was like, ‘OK, what time are we fighting first?’ They said, ‘Normal time,'” Leon Edwards told Ariel Helwani. He also appeared to blame his lackluster performance and wrong decision-making during the fight against Belal Muhammad on the PPV timing, which he hopes he won’t be a part of in the future.

Well, what do you think will happen this time out? There’s no timing issue, nor is there anything else that would suggest Leon Edwards could struggle apart from the things that Kamaru Usman has pointed out. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.