After showing off his grappling skills against Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington in his last two bouts, Leon Edwards is ready to start sporting the signature Dagestani beard.
‘Rocky’ is fresh off a dominant performance against Covington at UFC 296 to retain his welterweight world title decisively. The victory comes nine months following his impressive win over former champion Kamaru Usman. In both matchups, Edwards more than held his own against two of the best grapplers in the history of the division.
Speaking about his performances in a recent interview, Leon Edwards generated a few laughs when suggesting that he’s ready to join the ranks of Russia’s greatest grapplers, facial hair and all.
“Two of the best grapplers in the division, I’m able to out-grapple them and take them down,” Edwards said in an interview with TNT Sports. “I might like, cut my mustache off and just have a little beard. Leon Nurmagomedov.”
Even though Leon Edwards pisses me off nowadays, that was funny
pic.twitter.com/oXr46z1Iy6
— AWUREDO (@AOUREDOO) December 24, 2023
Leon Edwards managed to stuff eight of Colby Covington’s 10 takedown attempts at the final pay-per-view of the year. Giving ‘Chaos’ a dose of his own medicine, ‘Rocky’ landed a solid two out of three takedowns against the All-American.
What’s next for Leon Edwards?
With his victory over Covington officially in the books, Edwards will likely turn his attention toward Belal Muhammad. ‘Remember the Name’ is riding a nine-fight win streak in the division and has been waiting patiently for his shot. However, current lightweight champion Islam Makhachev hopes to throw a monkey wrench in those plans, recently lobbying for a champion vs. champion clash with ‘Rocky’ in 2024.
With both Justin Gaethje and Charles Oliveira awaiting their turn at the ‘Dagestani Destroyer,’ we suspect Makhachev and Edwards will hang out in their divisions for the next year working through a backlog of hungry contenders before potentially colliding in a superfight.