UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards has an upcoming fight to worry about, but he’s already considering what could happen beyond that.
Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) has about a month until he attempts his second title defense when he meets Colby Covington in the UFC 296 main event on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas. Even with a stern challenge in front of him, Edwards said he “hundred percent” wants to move up and fight for the middleweight title. The Brit hopes to make U.K. history by doing so.
“I feel like that would be perfect,” Edwards said in an interview with Sky Sports. “I feel like me going out there, being double champ, first ever from the U.K. to do it, that’s definitely one of my goals. That’s in the cards for sure.”
When talking about it, Edwards didn’t mean down the road. He’d like to fight the winner of the UFC 297 headliner between 185-pound champ Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis after he meets Covington.
“Any of them two would be great to fight,” Edwards said. “… There’s no one that’s exciting in this (welterweight) division, so for me to go out there and do that, that would be perfect.”
Edwards will enter UFC 296 on an 11-fight winning streak with one no contest dating back to 2015. He’s coming off consecutive victories over Kamaru Usman to first claim the 170-pound title in August 2022 and then most recently his first title defense last March.
