I never really had much faith in Edwards, not because he is a bad fighter but just because he seems like he is too small and weak compared to the people that he is in the Octagon with. He is a good fighter, no doubt, but when he won the belt from Karmara Usman, I thought it was a fluke that was brought on by Usman refusing to just win by decision, which he was certainly going to do if he just coasted to victory in the 5th round back in 2022. I respected Usman for not taking the easy win, but it did get him KO'd. I still didn't believe Edwards was a real champion but then just 6 months later Edwards defeated Usman again in the rematch.
Ok, maybe this guy is pretty damn good. Then when Edwards defeated Colby Covington I thought, "jeez, I have this guy pegged all wrong!" Well it only took another 6 months for that to all go out the window as Edwards was rather handily defeated by Belal Muhammad.
Leon, like a lot of ex champions, was encouraged to dust himself off and get back into the picture but for whatever reason, he didn't have an automatic rematch clause in his contract vs. Muhammad. So he instead went on to face what was supposed to be Jack Della Maddelna but for reasons that I do not understand they pulled this contest at the last minute to push Maddelena to face Muhammad at UFC 315.
Look, I don't pretend to know what is going on here. This is all very strange but instead of Maddelena facing Edwards and presumably the winner of that fight was going to get a chance at the belt with Muhammad they instead threw Sean Brady into the mix... not at truly the last minute, but to me it looked like they were trying to give Edwards an easy win
Well, that is not what happened at all.
From the very start of the fight Brady was charging at Edwards and taking damage in the process but it appeared as though Edwards was not really prepared for an opponent to be bull-rushing him like this right from the start. Things went from bad to worse for Leon Edwards once Sean Brady, who is a wrestling specialist, realized that he was able to take Edwards down to the ground without much difficulty.
Once a wrestler determines a way to take down their opponent I am always concerned that it is quickly going to become an on-the-ground, control time, bullshit-fest... but that is not what happened. Brady was willing to stand and match Edwards in a striking game as well. While Edwards was getting a counter-strike in here and there, it was pretty evident right from the opening bell that Edwards was at a real disadvantage here.
This was unexpected for a couple of reasons: For one thing I really thought that Edwards was going to come out with a fury because it seemed as though the UFC wasn't very interested in putting him back in the title slot and also because for once, he looked like the bigger guy at the weigh-ins and press conferences as he towered over his opponent.
I guess none of that really matters when we get started and the fists are a flyin'.
I had said before that I felt as though the UFC really pushes for European champions in order to keep that side of the pond happy and enthusiastic about upcoming events but perhaps that is not the case. I no longer feel as though that is what UFC is aiming for. What I do think they want is to keep Leon Edwards active enough to continue to have events in the UK or more specifically Birmingham, where Leon Edwards is from, to have reasonably popular Fight Night events. I don't think that UFC is really all that interested in having major events there.
Edwards didn't look good in this fight. His career spans 14 years and he has never been finished like this before.
When Brady succeeded in getting Edwards on the ground and then posturing for control eventually resulting in a guillotine choke that submitted Edwards, I wasn't really surprised that Brady was the winner. It was evident that he was going to be the winner from the middle of round 1 provided he didn't gas out. Leon was simply too easy to take to the ground and once they got there, that's where they stayed. I am happy that Brady didn't just ride this wave to a "W" by decision, which he almost certainly could do.
From this point forward I would say that Edwards probably has one more fight in the limelight and if he doesn't win there the UFC will start to turn their back on him as he will be relegated to Fight Nights or undercards from that point forward. It has happened to so many ex-champions before him and eventually they fizzle out and leave the promotion altogether.
I like Leon, but he didn't look like someone that was recently the champion of the world over the weekend. His next match better be something absolutely spectacular, or I believe he is done.