Leon Edwards's path back to the title mix shared by UFC Hall of Famer after Sean Brady defeat at UFC London
03/23/2025 05:50 PM
Leon Edwards faces an uphill battle back to the welterweight title picture according to Michael Bisping.
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards‘s struggles with high-level grapplers continued in the UFC London headliner. He lost to Sean Brady by submission on Saturday and for the first time in his MMA career, Edwards has lost consecutive fights.
Edwards’s path to another welterweight title shot is further complicated after UFC London. UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will face Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in May, and a rematch with Muhammad isn’t on Edwards’s plate anytime soon.
But for Edwards to get back into the title mix, he’ll need to secure a win over a big name, and Michael Bisping has an idea for Edwards’s next outing.
- READ MORE:Leon Edwards' brother breaks silence with five-word statement after Sean Brady's UFC London beatdown
Michael Bisping matchmakes Leon Edwards’s next fight after UFC London
During the TNT Sports post-fight show, Bisping weighed in on who could be next for Edwards, and the struggles he’ll have to overcome after UFC London.
“I like the Ian Garry matchup because I think Leon deserves to go out there and fight someone that will give him a stylistically favorable matchup,” Bisping said of Edwards. “Not a winnable fight, but not a nightmare scenario…I think the biggest opponent for Leon Edwards though is going to be himself, what’s going on in [the head]?
“Does he accept that ‘ok, I was just beaten by two really high-level grapplers, maybe the two best grapplers in the division’…or does he have the strength to say hold on a minute, I’m going to rebuild myself,” Bisping continued. “Or does he succumb to the self-doubt, because that starts to creep in now…that’s going to be the biggest fight. Because if he can look past that, I do see a world where Leon Edwards is in the title mix again.
“He’ll need at least three wins, but he’s gotta start getting some wins and finishing people for those conversations to start again.”
Ian Machado Garry suffered his first-career defeat to Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December, in a short-notice booking. Rakhmonov was supposed to face Muhammad in the main event before Garry stepped up on weeks’ notice to fight Rakhmonov in a No. 1 contender fight.
Edwards and Garry were teammates earlier in their careers, but a messy divorce between Garry and the gym’s leadership created tensions between the two top welterweights. A matchup between the two talented strikers would make a lot of sense for both sides.
Sean Brady mocked Leon Edwards with his trademark moniker after UFC London
Tensions also didn’t alleviate between Edwards and Brady after UFC London. Brady accused Edwards of overlooking him entering the fight, and Brady jabbed Edwards on social media by imitating his ‘headshot dead’ pose.
UFC London spectators weren’t happy with Brady’s win over Edwards, as many in the crowd booed and left the venue midway through the fight. UK fans left in similar volume during Edwards’s loss to Muhammad at UFC 304 last July.
As of this writing, Edwards hasn’t publically addressed his performance at UFC London, although his brother Fabian reacted to the event on social media with an optimistic message.
During his UFC Hall of Fame career, Bisping overcame several hurdles to eventually secure a UFC championship belt dramatically. Whether Edwards’s recent struggles are an indicator of what’s to come is uncertain, but he’ll look to bounce back by year’s end.
