“I think it’s a good matchup for me and that styles make fights. I think the way he competes, the way he fights matches, the way I compete, and I fight, I think he has improved — his striking has improved — but so have I. I’ve improved my striking, my grappling, my all-around mixed martial arts game.
“I’ve had my time to level up, to get better, physically and mentally, and now is the time to go out there and prove everyone wrong,” he added. “They’re ranking him as the pound-for-pound (No. 1), so I want to go out there and starch him.”
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While this weekend is the culmination of a long wait to finally run it back with Usman, it’s also a memorable stop on a long, winding lifetime journey for Edwards.
“It would mean the world to me, but not just to me — to my family and my team; for what we’ve been through and how far I’ve came, not just in my career, but in life,” said Edwards, who was born in Jamaica, immigrated to England with his family, and only discovered mixed martial arts after beginning to venture down the same dangerous path his father traveled before his death when “Rocky” was 13. “I’ve always said I feel like I’ve lived two different lives — from being born in Jamaica to immigrating to the UK — and now I’m about to fight for the most prestigious title in mixed martial arts, a sport that I didn’t know existed until the age of 17, 18.
