Leon Edwards

Leon Edwards (born 25 August 1991) is a Jamaican-British mixed martial artist currently competing as a Welterweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2011, he formerly competed for BAMMA, where he was the Welterweight Champion. As of June 23, 2020, he is #4 in the UFC welterweight rankings.

Early career

Edwards began his professional fighting career in 2010, making his debut as an amateur at Bushido Challenge 2 - A New Dawn. Edwards fought Carl Booth, winning via Armbar submission in round two.

Fight UK MMA

Edwards then signed a contract with Fight UK MMA. He debuted for the promotion against Damian Zlotnicki, winning via technical knockout in the first round. He had two more fights for the promotion, winning against Pawel Zwiefka and losing against Delroy McDowell via DQ by way of illegal knee.

Post-Fight UK MMA

Edwards obtained a 2–1 record after leaving Fight UK MMA. He then fought Craig White at the Strength and Honor 14, winning by decision. Edwards then went to fight for "BAMMA", in which he went 5–0. During his stint with BAMMA he won the welterweight championship against Wayne Murrie and he defended it once against Shaun Taylor in what was his last fight with BAMMA before going to the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Edwards made his promotional debut against Cláudio Silva on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night: Shogun vs. Saint Preux. Silva defeated Edwards via split decision.

Edwards faced veteran Seth Baczynski on 11 April 2015 at UFC Fight Night 64. Edwards knocked out Seth Baczynski in 8 seconds with a straight left hand after timing a kick.The result also earned Edwards a Performance of the Night bonus.

Edwards faced Pawel Pawlak on 18 July 2015 at UFC Fight Night 72. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards next faced Kamaru Usman on 19 December 2015 at UFC on Fox 17.He lost the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Dominic Waters on 8 May 2016 at UFC Fight Night 87. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards next faced Albert Tumenov on 8 October 2016 at UFC 204. He won the fight via submission in the third round.

Edwards faced Vicente Luque on 18 March 2017 at UFC Fight Night 107. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Bryan Barberena on 2 September 2017 at UFC Fight Night 115. He won the fight by unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Peter Sobotta on 17 March 2018 at UFC Fight Night 127. He won the fight via TKO at 4:59 in the third round.

Edwards faced Donald Cerrone on 23 June 2018 at UFC Fight Night 132. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

Edwards faced Gunnar Nelson on 16 March 2019 at UFC Fight Night 147.He won by split decision. After the event, Edwards was involved in a backstage brawl with Jorge Masvidal, which left Edwards with a laceration under his left eye.

Edwards faced Rafael dos Anjos on 20 July 2019 at UFC on ESPN 4. He won the fight via unanimous decision.

As the first bout of his new, multi-fight contract, Edwards was scheduled to face Tyron Woodley on 21 March 2020 at UFC Fight Night: Woodley vs. Edwards. However, the restrictions related to COVID-19 forced Edwards to withdraw as the event was meant to be moved from London to the United States, and the event was subsequently postponed indefinitely.

Leon, grew up in Birmingham, England but is originally from Kingston, Jamaica. He started training mixed martial arts when he was 16. His nickname, Rocky, was given to him by his friends in school. His brother Fabian is also an MMA fighter for Bellator MMA.

Mixed martial arts

• Ultimate Fighting Championship
  • Performance of the Night (One Time)
  • Second fastest knockout in welterweight history (0:08 of 1st round)
  • Tied latest finish in a 3-round fight (4:59 of the 3rd round)
• BAMMA
  • BAMMA RDX Welterweight Championship (One time)
  • One Successful Title Defence