Leon Edwards will be returning to the UFC Octagon after over 600 days this weekend, if everything goes to plan. Edwards was supposed to fight last March against Tyron Woodley, but that was the first card that fell casualty to COVID. He was stuck due to travel restrictions and was pushed into a fight with low-ranked Khamzat Chimaev, which has been cancelled thrice since.

Belal Muhammad stepped up after the latest cancellation and will face Edwards on short notice this weekend. While this is also a rankings mismatch, many are giving Muhammad an outside chance on upsetting Leon, who is on an eight-fight win streak. However, Edwards isn’t too worried about Belal and his gameplan, heading into the bout.

“He’s decent everywhere the fight goes. He’s a good striker, he’s a good wrestler, and doesn’t believe that I’m better over the board. Wrestling, jiu-jitsu, striking. I think his gameplan is going to be ‘shoot for his life’. Double legs for his life and that’s it. But at this level, I’ve faced many opponents like that already.”

Edwards reiterated, “He’s going to shoot for his life and hoping to grind out a victory but I’m going fucking take his head off. I can’t wait for it.”

Leon Edwards: Is a title shot next if he wins?

Leon Edwards is on the cusp of a title shot. The other top contenders in the Welterweight divisions are currently coming off losses. Jorge Masvidal last lost to Kamaru Usman. Usman has also beaten Gilbert Burns and Colby Covington in his last few fights. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Usman is also the man to hand Edwards his last defeat.

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Edwards will need to dominate Muhammad to make his title shot a sure thing. He doesn’t have the same name value as Colby or Masvidal, so he needs to make his case iron-clad based on his work in the Octagon.

Muhammad does prefer to wrestle, and Edwards is one of the best wrestlers in the division. However, Edwards also has one of the fastest knockouts in UFC history. This will be a fun fight, but Edwards does look to have the edge on paper.