This past Saturday in the main event of UFC London, we saw a big time matchup in the welterweight division with potential title implications. Former champion Leon Edwards (22-5, 1 NC) was back as he took on surging top contender Sean Brady (18-1).
Last July, Leon Edwards lost the welterweight title in London to Belal Muhammad. He partially blamed his lackluster performance due to the fact that the fight was in the middle of the night London time due to the PPV being in primetime for the US audience. He wouldn’t have that excuse on Saturday with it being primetime in the UK.
Edwards was supposed to face a striker in Jack Della Maddalena but after the UFC switched things around, he took on one of the best grapplers in the division in Sean Brady. Brady was the betting favorite entering Saturday and he showed why with his performance.
The former champion couldn’t get anything going and it was domination from start to finish for Sean Brady. Edwards tapped to a guillotine in the fourth round suffering his first loss by finish in his career.
What’s next after UFC London?
This one is a really tough pill to swallow for Leon Edwards. Again, with the Belal Muhammad fight, he talked about the fact that he felt like he wasn’t in it with the timing of the fight. There was no excuse with this one and he was dominated from the opening bell to the finish.
The new rankings came out today and Edwards is ranked third behind Brady and Shavkat Rakhmonov. Coming off two straight losses, what should be next for the former UFC champion? The fight that immediately jumps out to me is a matchup with Ian Machado Garry.
Garry is ranked seventh in the division and he’s coming off his first professional loss. There’s been some heat there behind the scenes and I think it’s a great fight for both men. I also wouldn’t mind seeing Edwards face the winner of Geoff Neal – Carlos Prates. I could also see the UFC potentially looking at the trilogy with Kamaru Usman, but I think Usman might be fighting Joaquin Buckley next.
One outside the box idea is Jorge Masvidal. Masvidal is looking to make a return and we know about the history there between the two men.