UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards has announced that he’ll be making his next title defense at UFC 300 on April 13th in Las Vegas, though he hasn’t stated who his opponent will be yet.
“I will defend my belt in April at #UFC300 in Vegas again, then hopefully in the summertime get a fight back home in Birmingham at Villa Park,” Edwards said during a half-time interview at the stadium during yesterday’s Aston Villa vs. Burnley football match. “I’m in talks with the UFC, so hopefully we can get it done.”
There’s no word on who he’ll be fighting, but the most likely option appears to be the current No.2 ranked welterweight contender Belal Muhammad, who is unbeaten in his last 10 fights. Having said that, one of those bouts was actually against Edwards back in March of 2021, but the fight ended in a no-contest early in the second round when Muhammad suffered an accidental eye-poke that left him unable to continue.
Muhammad isn’t the only potential option though as the No.3 ranked Shavkat Rakhmonov has also built a strong case for title contention after racking up a perfect 18-0 record in his career so far, including six wins in a row since joining the UFC in 2020.
Both fights make sense, though neither would be considered a blockbuster fight to lead the UFC 300 show. However, another potential opponent that may generate more interest would be lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who has been signalling his interest in moving up to 170lbs in an attempt to become a double-champion. That being said, the fact that Ramadan is very close to UFC 300 means he may well not be available for the event.
As things stand only three fights have been officially announced for UFC 300 so far: Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksander Rakic, Aljamain Sterling vs. Calvin Kattar vs. Cody Brundage and Bo Nickal vs. Cody Brundage, but it is known that the UFC also plans to have veteran campaigner Jim Miller fight on the card.
However, speculation that Conor McGregor may also be added to the line-up may now be coming to an end after he claimed yesterday that he’ll be fighting Michael Chandler at International Fight Week in Las Vegas in June, though that’s yet to be officially confirmed.
