Leon Edwards hopes to regain UFC title ‘by the end of next year’

Leon Edwards plans to be UFC welterweight champion once again as soon as possible.

Edwards lost the title to Belal Muhammad in the main event of UFC 304 in July, ending Edwards’ title reign after two defenses. The fight was pretty one-sided for Muhammad, and now that he’s no longer champ, “Rocky” can now focus on chasing it for the second time.

“My goal right now is to get the belt back,” Edwards said on the MyProtein Instagram page. “I’d like to be champion by the end of next year — around this time next year, so I’m just putting steps in place.”

In one of the most memorable title wins in UFC history, Edwards captured the title with a stunning head kick that knocked out Kamaru Usman in the final minute of UFC 278 — a fight Usman was comfortably winning — in August 2022. The 33-year-old defeated Usman a second time at UFC 286 seven months later, and then dominated Colby Covington over five rounds this past December at UFC 296 to earn a unanimous decision.

The loss against Muhammad was the first for Edwards since being on the wrong end of a decision in his first fight against Usman at UFC on Fox 17 in December 2015. Edwards is certainly not used to losing fights in the octagon.

“I haven’t lost a fight in like nine years,” Edwards said. “It’s getting used to that feeling again, but I feel like I hate losing more than I love winning. There’s not much you can do now, you know, just move on from that and put it behind you.

“For me, it’s more about what’s next and and how do you get back to where you want to get to. My goal is to be a two-time world champion.”