Headshot! Bang! Done. A feint, a leading backhand, and one swift headkick placed the UFC Welterweight Championship belt on the waist of Birmingham’s Leon Edwards on August 21, 2022. 

The 31-year-old MMA star astonished the fighting world with a heroic comeback in his rematch with Kamaru Usman—seven years on from their first bout, in which the former champion came out on top. The Jamaican-born talent’s seven-year journey from the first to second bout with Mr. Usman was afflicted by a spread of untimely events—including delays to fights, injuries to would-be opponents, an eight-fight win streak ended by a no-contest bout with Belal Muhammad, and not least the ramifications of COVID-19. All of this would leave his rematch and title dreams up in the air, unable to see the clear route to where he deserved to be.