Leon Edwards can’t catch a break. The streaking welterweight contender has won his last eight trips to the Octagon but it still seems like “Rocky” is fighting an uphill battle.
Edwards, who is currently ranked No. 3 in the UFC’s welterweight division, made a return to action against Belal Muhammad earlier this month at UFC Vegas 21. It was Edwards’ first appearance in over 600 days and a makeshift main event that he didn’t even need to accept. Remember, Edwards was supposed to fight rising star Khamzat Chimaev before COVID-19 nixed that matchup on two separate occasions.
Unfortunately, Edwards’ bad luck continued in his main event scrap with Muhammad. After a solid first round Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye in the second (watch it HERE). The foul was not done on purpose but it badly hurt Muhammad and prohibited the fight from continuing.
Despite waiting so long to get back into the cage and having his opponents changed multiple times over the past few years, Edwards was right back where he started. Ready to compete but unable to fight.
After seeing his main event with Muhammad ruled a no contest Edwards caught up with his mother on a phone call. That moment was captured and can be seen in the above video player courtesy of ESPN. It was an emotional exchange between the two as Edwards couldn’t mask his frustration after a botched return.
Edwards, who hasn’t lost since dropping a decision to Kamaru Usman back in Dec. 2015, was hoping that UFC still granted him a title shot regardless of his fight with Muhammad. But with Usman already scheduled to rematch Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 this April “Rocky” is left to pick up the pieces and wait for UFC to find his next opponent.
At this point, it seems like Colby Covington is the most likely candidate.
For complete UFC Vegas 21 results and coverage click here.