In July of this season, Leon Edwards lived a night to forget. Leading the UFC 304 card in his home country, the Englishman put on an unrecognizable performance and, as a bonus, lost the welterweight belt after being dominated by Belal Muhammad. Since then, ‘Rocky,’ as he is known, has stayed away from the spotlight. Despite the brief hiatus in his career, the former champion of the category has bold plans for 2025. Starting with a possible win against Jack Della Maddalena.

MMA journalist ‘Krazy Kevin’ has just dropped the massive news that JDM and Edwards are geared up to go one-on-one at UFC Fight Night on March 22 in London, England. This is a major matchup for ‘Rocky’ to get back to his winning ways again if he wishes to achieve his New Year’s resolution. For the unaware, through a video posted on ‘My Protein’s’ Instagram page, Leon Edwards revealed that his main goal for this year is to regain the belt that was once his by the end of next season.

He said, “I’d love to be champion again by the end of the year, next year, around this time next year. So, just putting steps in place. I (hadn’t) lost a fight now in, like, nine years. So, I was getting used to that feeling again. I feel I hate losing more than I love winning. You know there’s not much you can do now. You know, just move on from that. You put it behind you, and for me, it’s more about what’s next and how do you get back to where you want to get to. My goal is to be a two-time world champion.”

Prior to the setback that came against Belal Muhammad, Leon Edwards was on a 13-fight unbeaten streak. Therefore, the Englishman must’ve taken advantage of the months after his last fight to digest the negative result that stunned him to the core. However, will he be emotionally recovered enough to go one-on-one against a fierce warrior such as Jack Della Maddalena? Fans do not think so.

UFC world drops brutal verdict on Leon Edwards’ future fight

As soon as the rumor about JDM vs. Leon Edwards started spreading, fans were quick to drop their thoughts in the comment section of the post. It was known by many that despite being No. 1 in the rankings, the Englishman will likely have to fight at least one match before qualifying for the title shot again. After all, the position of the next challenger in the category seems to be taken by Shavkat Rakhmonov. However, it seems like Jack Della Maddalena would prove to be a bigger obstacle than expected. Why? Because it seems like ‘Rocky’ has no fire in him to fight anymore. As this fan stated, “JDM is top of the top fighter but Leon just doesn’t seem to have any heart in him.”

Fans also think that Maddalena’s striking would be lethal against ‘Rocky,’ and this is a bad match that would favor JDM. As a result, many fans shared their predictions that it would be yet another loss for the Englishman. They wrote, “Jdm is a bad match for Edwards,” “I feel like Leon is gonna get slept,” and “Watch JDM smoke Leon standing.” Many fans even predicted that it would be a win via TKO for the Australian MMA fighter, “JDM about to KO Edwards” and “Jack Della by knockout, first time it’ll happen to Edwards too.”

However, not everyone was betting against the 33-year-old fighter. Some fans shared their belief that Edwards is number one on the rankings for a reason. With an arsenal that has favored him time and again, fans believe that it would be an easy fight for Leon Edwards instead. Taking to the comments, they shared that the more well-rounded approach of Leon Edwards would overpower the pure striking of the Australian fight- “Leon Edwards wins a sadly easy fight for him; styles don’t match up well for JDM” and “Edwards, and it’s not close.” But what do you think? Who will win the fight in your opinion? Let us know in the comments.