Leon Edwards migrated with his parents to England when he was nine. The family left their native Kingston, the capital of the Caribbean island of Jamaica, in search of a better life, moving to the British metropolis of Bristol City. Along with being an immigrant, the Edwards had virtually no money and were black, which led to them struggling immensely throughout their lives, until Leon made it big. While he has not spoken much about the racism he faced as a child in Britain, the controversy with Meghan Markle seemed to have opened some old wounds for Edwards as he took a strong stand against it a few years back.

Leon Edwards, who was an immigrant to the UK himself, spoke out against this alleged mistreatment faced by Meghan Markle, even calling out the Royal Family over it. In an interview with TMZ in 2021, ‘Rocky’ expressed his genuine and heartfelt remorse at the Duchess of Sussex, who was at the top of British social life, facing racism, and hoped she could heal from the trauma it must have caused. In addition, talking from his personal experience, ‘Rocky’ revealed that the nature of racism in the UK was very different from its iteration in the United States.

“It’s unacceptable, obviously. It’s heartbreaking to hear what [Markle] went through, what she’s still going through… There’s racism [in the UK], but it’s very hush racism, right? It’s not like in America, there’s blatant racism sometimes. But, in the UK, it’s like very down-low racism, but it’s there, and it’s sad to see in 2021. You can’t keep an old monarchy in 2021. They need to come up to date with the times. I wish [Markle] well, and she can get through it,” he said.

The American actress Meghan Markle wed Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, and the youngest grandson of the then-British monarch, Queen Elizabeth, in a ceremony at Windsor Castle in 2018. After her dream wedding, the former actress was expected to become an integral part of the British Royal Family. However, just two years later, the couple had left the UK over differences with the Royal Family.

What was the reason for this abrupt exit? The alleged racism she faced at the hands of the British tabloid press over being half black and the Royal Family’s reluctance to call out the paparazzi over it. In addition, the couple claimed in an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021 that there had been talks about “how dark their son Archie” would be given Markle’s mixed heritage.

Notably, this was not the first time Edwards had expressed his outrage at racism, having done so four years ago in the UFC.

‘Rocky’ called out racism of fellow fighter

Leon Edwards will face #1 UFC welterweight Belal Muhammad on UFC 304 on July 27 for his third title defense. His second title defense was against Colby ‘Chaos’ Covington, who plays an outspoken and disrespectful villainous character, and whom ‘Rocky’ had wanted to fight over his alleged racism.

‘Chaos’, in a post-fight interview in 2020, had made distasteful comments with racial undertones about former champions Kamaru Usman and Tyron Woodley, which had infuriated Edwards. “Your tribe and smoke signals and blah, blah, blah, and he’s calling Woodley a ter***ist because of Black Lives Matter. All these statements he’s making is racist. There’s no other way to go around it,” Edwards had said in an interview.

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It was after these comments from Covington that ‘Rocky’ made a vow to teach Covington a lesson, which he was successfully able to do at their UFC 296 clash in December 2023, winning a dominant unanimous decision over the American. What are your thoughts about Rocky’s support for Meghan Markle and other UFC fighters? Let us know in the comments below.