As an essential step, the UFC has partnered with Onside Networks and Legacy Youth Zone to combat knife crime activities in the UK. Jimi Manuwa, Darren till, and Leon Edwards spearhead the mentioned program.

The three UFC fighters will provide counseling to 12 to 16-year-old kids, who are currently on probation for knife possession, as well as drug-related crimes.

Speaking about the initiative, Manuwa took to Twitter and penned down a note on the same.

“I’m very proud to have teamed up with @Leon_edwardsmma and  @darrentill2 to be able to give back to our communities across the Uk. Knife crime is at its peak in the Uk and we hope to give youths other options. We teamed up with @ufc and  @LegacyYZ for the UFC MENTOR PROGRAM,” he wrote.

Similar to Manuwa, Edwards too took to Twitter and shared his views on the collaboration for the fight writing, “Today we officially launch our UFC / Onside Youth Mentoring Program. This is something close to my heart and I can’t wait to get this going and help our local communities.”

In England and Wales, police recorded a lurching 46,015 knife-related crime, which is a 71% increase from 2014. Kife crimes have killed 237 people including 24 children under the age of 17 the last year.

So it’s an important step taken in the right direction by the respective agencies.

Leon Edwards Talks about the initiative

Edwards appeared for an interview and talked about his past experience and how he lost some close friends and colleagues to the knife crime.

“I have lost many friends to knife violence… On Father’s day, a good friend of mine was killed on Father’s day. He got stabbed in the neck,” he said.

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Edwards then talked about how he shared the stories with Manuwa and Till. The latter had a traumatic past on knife crimes. They discussed their ideas with Dana White and the boss gave a nod to the initiative.

Edwards further said that he isn’t looking to motivate those kids into MMA. He just wants them to learn that there is so much to do other than criminal activities.

It’s not a straightforward task by any stretch of the imagination. But the trio of Till, Manuwa, and Edwards would hope for their advice to impart some influence on these troubled kids.

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