Leon Edwards

Edwards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in a one-room home with his parents and brother. He grew raised in a violent neighborhood where his father engaged in what he calls “questionable things.” At the age of nine, Edwards relocated to Birmingham, England’s Aston district, and at the age of thirteen, his father was fatally murdered in a London nightclub. His mother convinced him to join an MMA club when he was 17 years old. Prior to that, he had been involved in illegal behavior such as drug trafficking, street fighting, and knife possession along with his social group.

Edwards made his amateur debut at Bushido Challenge 2 – A New Dawn in 2010 before turning professional. Edwards defeated Carl Booth by armbar submission in round two of their fight.

After that, Edwards committed to a deal with Fight UK MMA. He faced Damian Zlotnicki in his promotion debut and defeated him in the opening round via a technical knockout. He competed in two more fights for the company, defeating Pawel Zwiefka and Delroy McDowell respectively by DQ due to an illegal knee.

After leaving Fight UK MMA, Edwards amassed a 2-1 record. Then, at the Strength and Honor 14, he defeated Craig White by decision. Edwards later fought for “BAMMA,” winning all five of his fights. He defeated Wayne Murrie to win the welterweight title while competing for BAMMA, and in his final match with the organization before joining the UFC, he successfully defended it once against Shaun Taylor.

Edwards fought Claudio Silva at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux in 2014 to make his UFC debut. At UFC Fight Night 64, he defeated Seth Baczynski in the first round via KO after only eight seconds.

At UFC on Fox 17 in 2015, he eventually met Kamaru Usman, the eventual champion, and lost to “The Nigerian Nightmare” by a unanimous decision. However, except for one no-contest against Belal Muhammad in 2021, Leon Edwards went on to win every single UFC bout from that point forward.

At UFC 278 when he was slated to face Kamaru Usman again in his rematch, “Rocky” was given the opportunity to compete for the welterweight championship. Both fighters squared off in the eagerly awaited rematch, with Edwards prevailing by way of KO and taking the crown.