Leon Edwards has now successfully defended his welterweight title twice following his win at UFC 296, but one UFC Hall of Famer worries that the champion still hasn't managed to endear himself to fight fans.
The final UFC event of the year was headlined by Edwards taking on former interim titleholder Colby Covington in a bout for the promotion’s welterweight strap. “Rocky” largely dominated a surprisingly tentative Covington over the course of five rounds to defend his title and firmly establish himself as the promotion’s welterweight king following his back-to-back victories over Kamaru Usman.
The performances from both Edwards and Covington at UFC 296 have generated a variety of reactions in the days following the fight, and recently UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier expressed some concern about where the welterweight champion stands with fans following his last few victories.
“He should get more respect,” Cormier said on DC & RC. “And I believe that in time he will, but my worry now is he’s done away with the names. He’s done away with the names in the division. And unless people hold him in high regard right now, the Shavkat Rakhmonovs, the Belal Muhammads, those guys don’t have the name value of Usman, Covington, [Nate] Diaz, to really elevate him.”
Currently on an unbeaten run of 13 fights that dates back to 2015, Edwards has now bested several of the fighters that have sat at the top of the welterweight division over the last few years.
With contenders like Belal Muhammad and Shavkat Rakhmonov now vying for their first chance at UFC gold, Cormier argues that Edwards’ next title defense will need to be far more definitive than the Usman rematch or Covington fight in order to earn favor among fight fans.
“So when you fight these guys, you have to take something from them. Their shine needs to become your shine if you want to become that guy that’s the PPV draw. So I think that what Leon’s gonna have to do next is put the next person away…Do it in a fashion that there is no more questions, that you know you have to watch a Leon Edwards fight.”
UFC CEO Dana White was hesitant to name Edwards’ next challenger in the immediate aftermath of UFC 296, but #2-ranked Muhammad did weigh in as the backup fighter for the card’s main event and previously met “Rocky” in a 2021 bout that unfortunately ended in a No Contest.
One other candidate for the next welterweight title shot is the unbeaten Rakhmonov, who preserved his perfect finishing rate and became the first fighter to submit two-time title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson when the pair met on the main card of UFC 296.
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