There is no longer room for Leon Edwards in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings – with his welterweight position also taking a huge hit.
Edwards was dominated by Sean Brady this past weekend at the O2 Arena in the main event of UFC London, where he submitted to the American in the fourth round.
The 33-year-old‘s hopes of another world title shot were subsequently diminished, with Brady now likely to challenge for the welterweight strap next.
Edwards had asserted all week before UFC London that it was his ‘dream’ and only goal in MMA’s biggest league to become a two-time champion.
‘Rocky’ lost the welterweight title to Belal Muhammad at UFC Manchester last July and desperately wanted a rematch with the current champion.
He consistently blamed his 5am fight time as the main reason behind his sluggish performance on the night, but wasn’t able to improve on his previous performance in London.
Not only have Edwards’ title ambitions been shattered following a repeat performance at UFC London, but the Birmingham native’s ranking has also taken a major hit.
Edwards was ranked 15th in the men’s pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings before UFC London and has since lost his spot on the prestigious list.
The P4P rankings make it easy for MMA fans to decipher who the best fighters are in the promotion regardless of weight class.
Fighters are then ranked individually in their own weight classes.
Edwards has moved in the welterweight rankings too, dropping from the No.1 contender to Muhammad’s belt to the third-best at 170 pounds.
Brady, meanwhile, has shot up four rankings to the No.1 contender spot, overtaking Shavkat Rakhmonov, Edwards and Kamaru Usman, but the American remains unranked on the P4P list
New UFC men’s P4P rankings
- Islam Makhachev (lightweight champion)
- Jon Jones (heavyweight champion)
- Ilia Topuria
- Merab Dvalishvili (bantamweight champion)
- Dricus du Plessis (middleweight champion)
- Magomed Ankalaev (light-heavyweight champion)
- Belal Muhammad (welterweight champion)
- Alex Pereira
- Alexandra Pantoja (flyweight champion)
- Tom Aspinall
- Alexander Volkanovski
- Max Holloway [+1]
- Sean O’Malley [+1]
- Charles Oliveira [+1]
- Arman Tsarukyan [New Ranking]
In terms of the P4P rankings, Edwards was replaced by Arman Tsarukyan, who debuts on the list for the very first time as the No.1 contender at lightweight.
Max Holloway, Sean O’Malley and Charles Oliveira were all bumped up one spot, while the rest all remain in the same spot.
UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev remains the number one ranked P4P fighter, while heavyweight king Jon Jones and Ilia Topuria make up the top three.
After calling out Edwards’ mentality for overlooking him ahead of UFC London, Brady had strong words for ‘Rocky’ and those around him when speaking to Ariel Helwani on Monday and reflecting on his huge London victory.
“Personally, f*** Leon,” he said. “F*** him and his whole team and that’s how I feel about the whole situation.
“I went up to him [after the fight] and was like, ‘Yo man, you’re a great champion.’
New UFC men’s welterweight rankings
Champion – Belal Muhammad
- Sean Brady
- Shavkat Rakhmonov
- Leon Edwards
- Kamaru Usman
- Jack Della Maddalena
- Joaquin Buckley
- Ian Garry
- Gilbert Burns
- Colby Covington
- Geoff Neal
- Stephen Thompson
- Michael Morales
- Carlos Prates
- Vicente Luque
- Michael Page
“He just kind of brushed me off. Obviously, he’s upset, but even his whole team, I tried to say, what’s up.
“They were corny as s***, too, so it was just whack. My coaches didn’t even go over there.
“They were like, ‘F*** that, we’re not saying s*** to these dudes.’
“Even before they raised my hand, I tried to touch him behind Jason Herzog (UFC referee) – he’s just salty.
“Then seeing all this s*** he was saying about me throughout the week. I wish I was even f****** meaner to this dude.”
Current welterweight champion Muhammad defends his belt for the first time at UFC 315 in May against Jack Della Maddalena.
Della Maddalena was originally scheduled to fight Edwards at UFC London, but was offered the title shot once Rakhmonov confirmed he was unable to fight following an injury.
If Rakhmonov is unable to make a return and fight the winner of Muhammad vs Della Maddalena, Brady is very likely to get the call and fight for UFC gold for the first time in his career.
