Having ascended the summit, Leon Edwards is determined to stay there. And, what’s more, seal his place in combat-sports history.
“For me, my goal is now to be the greatest of all time,” the UFC welterweight champion tells The National following a coaching seminar at Falcons MMA in Dubai, where he tutored, offered advice, answered questions, signed autographs and posed for a stream of photographs.
The UFC belt, recently acquired courtesy of an instant-classic knockout of the apparently indomitable Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August, was never far from view.
“It's amazing,” Edwards says. “It still feels so real. It's been such a long journey to get to this point. And now to be feeling the love from the fans and people coming up to me and saying how inspirational my story is, it's an amazing feeling.
“I'm proud of myself, what we've achieved. Just staying dedicated to that journey, believed in myself from the start. Even through the ups and downs, I still said I’ll be No 1. And now we're here it's an incredible feeling.”
The journey has been remarkable. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, to a teenage mother and a gang-leader father, Edwards and family relocated to the UK in 2000.
In 2004, Edwards’ father was shot dead in London when his son was 13 and, when the young teenager turned ever more towards a life of crime, his mother pushed him into sport. Edwards took up MMA in Birmingham at 17.
“The most special moment since becoming champion was taking the belt back to my mum and my family, showing them what I've achieved, what I set for myself and I've achieved it,” he says. “I said to my mum when I was 17 and I think you seen it with the phone call after [the Usman victory] … I was like, ‘Mum I did it’.
“Because I told her when I was young that I'll use this to change our lives. And that's what I did.”
Edwards’ in-octagon interview immediately following his fifth-round, knockout head-kick of Usman – at the time, the Nigerian was the sport's pound-for-pound No 1, unbeaten in 15 fights — ranks among the sport’s most memorable.
Overcome by emotion, Edwards screams through the tears and into the microphone: “They all doubted me. They all said I couldn’t do it. Look at me now. Look. At. Me. Now.”
At Falcons MMA, members of his management team at Paradigm Sports sport T-shirts emblazoned with the now-famous slogan.
“I watched it back and couldn't remember what I was saying because all the emotions,” Edwards says. “It just showed how much it meant to me. Even the crowd got behind me. Everyone knew what a moment meant because of what was on the line.
“I knew I’d be No 1; over the years, went through the ups and downs, still stayed persistent and did it. The interview was just a perfect storm. It was an amazing moment. I get goosebumps now when I see videos and clips.”
Edwards, 31, says he cried “for two weeks” following the victory, knowing he had helped change his family’s life for “generations”.
Undoubtedly more financially secure, he has since enjoyed the trappings of success: the money, the recognition. Even, he jokes, eating most places for free.
“I’ve way more friends now,” Edwards laughs. “But now I’ve got the taste of the good life I need to keep it going. My motivation is to secure my family's future. For me to do that I have to stay motivated.
“Now it’s hard to find the balance between media and training; I’m literally here, there and everywhere. But I’ve always said I’m dedicated to my craft – it’s what got me here in the first place.”
The dedication now is to become the greatest welterweight of all-time.
“I set a goal as a kid to be a world champion and I’ve achieved that,” says Edwards, unbeaten in his past 11 UFC bouts, a stretch dating back to his initial loss to Usman, in December 2015. “There's nothing stopping me now to going out there and becoming the best of all time.
“For me to do that I have to keep doing what I’m doing, be that kid again I was when I was 17 years old, where I was excited to train, excited to show up to the gym. Stayed dedicated, don't get lost in the fame of it. Don't get lost thinking that everyone loves you.
“Because MMA is a fickle game. Look at Kamaru Usman. Now they’re all turning on him, making memes of him. For me to be the best of all time, I’ve got to stay humble, be humble, show up in the gym, control what I can control, which is training.
“Don't get too stretched out and start doing everything else outside of the game.”
The next point on the path to greatness, Edwards says, is the trilogy with Usman. The plan is for a stadium show in the UK, preferably Wembley, early next year – something Dana White was apparently enthusiastic about when Edwards met the UFC president the Monday after UFC 278.
Edwards struggled at altitude in Utah – Usman dominated the bout until he was knocked out with less than a minute remaining – but reckons he will be far more dangerous on more familiar territory.
“Exactly. I give myself five, six out of 10 for that performance,” he says. “Next time I'm back home, so no worries about altitude; just be able to free-flow and fight.
“He’ll be in for a shock. Because if that was the best Kamaru Usman that night – that's everything he has to offer, as far as holding as a cage – he’ll be in for a shock next time.
“Some fighters change when they get knocked out that bad as well. Especially if they think they could never be beaten, and I think he felt that, that he could never lose. To get that badly KO-ed, it does affect fighters mentally. Let’s see how he comes back.”
After the knockout for the ages – Edwards also became the first fighter in the UFC to take down Usman the bar has been set. How, then, to trump that?
“Knock him out first round,” Edwards laughs. “Now I know I can take him down, know I can knock him out, there’s nothing stopping me from doing that again.
“I know I can do both. I'm the first one to take him down, first one to knock him out. And I’ll do it again.”
