UFC London, being just over a month away, had its highly anticipated Main Event between Leon “Rocky” Edwards and Jack Della Maddalena scrapped. Last night via Instagram Live, UFC president Dana White shook the entire mixed martial arts world in a recent turn of events that Michael Bisping describes as a ‘nightmare situation’ for Edwards. White announced that Edwards would no longer be facing sensational striker JDM, and Rocky will now face off with 17-1 Sean Brady.
Brady will enter the contest on a two-fight win streak, with his most recent victory coming over Gilbert Burns via unanimous decision. Edwards has dealt with his share of high-level wrestlers in the past, including Kamaru Usman, whom he beat for the welterweight title, and Colby Covington, who he had his first and only title defense against. Even though both Brady and Edwards were beaten by the current welterweight champion Belal Muhamad, Bisping wanted to highlight that Brady is a harder fight than Maddalena.
Michael Bisping Sees Leon Edwards Short Notice Opponent as a Harder Match-up
Bisping is spot-on with his breakdown of Edwards vs. Brady. The Count notes that Brady, like Muhammad, uses his cardio as a weapon and blends his takedowns with his strikes well. With a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Brady also can finish fights on the ground. Edwards struggled with the pace Muhammad set, as well as how the takedowns flowed into the striking combinations. Bisping’s concern is that this fight could play out like a rematch with Muhammad due to how similar the fighting style is to Sean Brady’s.
Rocky, with his 65% takedown defense, showed that he can wrestle with the best the UFC has to offer at welterweight. Nonetheless, the performance against Belal Muhammad left the hole in Edwards’s game on display for the entire world. Muhammad applied pressure and pace to Edwards during that fight, proving the sniper could be broken. Brady is likely looking to mimic the success Bully B had against Edwards with his smash-mouth style. Edwards and his team have a new game plan to work on for the next 32 days.
Bisping Highlights the Dangers of a Short Notice Opponent Change
As a former UFC middleweight champion, Bisping knows a thing or two about short-notice opponents in high-profile fights. After UFC 199, Bisping stepped up for a short-notice title fight with Luke Rockhold. He shocked the MMA world when he replaced Chris Weidman and knocked out Luke Rockhold to become the middleweight champion.
Wasting no time, the Count gets into the meat and potatoes of the subject. Training for a stand-up war with JDM this entire time to have the opponent switch to a wrestling dynamo changes things. Due to the switch, Leon Edwards has to void his game plans for JDM while also creating a completely new game plan for Brady. With not a lot of time left in the training camp, this adds many difficult challenges. Add in the pressure of the stakes, as this fight could be a title eliminator on top.
Watch Bisping’s full breakdown on the recent shakeups in the welterweight division below:
With a Win, Sean Brady or Leon Edwards Would Be Right Back in the Title Picture
With all the movement going on in the UFC right now. It’s hard to tell who is going to fight who or when they will fight. If the calculations put forth in Bispings’ YouTube video are correct. Brady or Edwards could both find themselves in a very interesting spot. Della Maddalena, with news of Shavkat Rakhmonov being injured, finds himself in a showdown with the champ. A win for either Edwards or Brady would put their names right back into the championship mix.
What are your thoughts on the new matchup for Leon Edwards? Is it as much of a nightmare as Bisping says? Let us know in the comments below!
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