Leon Edwards will be hoping his media day appearance isn’t an omen of what’s to come.
Edwards was chatting to the media ahead of his UFC London main event bout with Sean Brady, when a fire alarm and emergency evacuation message interrupted the conversation, briefly cutting the stage lights and microphone power in the process.
Fortunately, it was simply an alarm test, and the unfortunately-timed procedure had Edwards, and the assembled media, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“I feel like Belal did that!” he laughed as UFC staffers worked to get everything back up and running at the end of the alarm test.
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Saturday night’s fight is a big one for Edwards, whose last performance came at Manchester’s Co-op Live, where he fell to a unanimous decision defeat to Belal Muhammad as he lost his undisputed welterweight title.
It was a sub-par performance from the Englishman, who admitted that the somewhat unusual fight time, competing on US prime time while in the UK, contributed to his sluggish performance.
Now he’s looking to bounce back with victory over number-five contender Brady at The O2 Arena on Saturday night, and plans to book himself a second chance at championship gold, and the opportunity to become a two-time world champion.
“One hundred percent,” he said.
“I feel like I’m still ranked number one in the division. There’s been no movement in the division since I last fought. I go out there and get a good performance against Sean, put him away, finish him, I feel like it puts me right back in line to where I feel I belong.”
Edwards was asked more about the man who dethroned him, Muhammad, than the man he’s facing this weekend, and the former champion insisted that, while he’d love to avenge his loss to “Remember The Name,” the aim of the game isn’t to rematch Muhammad, it’s to win back the title, from whoever’s holding it.
“This is not about Belal,” he said.
“It’s about the belt, not Belal. My goal is the championship, whether Belal’s got it, or (Jack Della Maddalena).”
