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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Leon Edwards sees himself on the cusp of another title shot with a pivotal win in his home country.

“Rocky” headlines UFC London opposite Sean Brady on March 22, a matchup that materialized after Edwards’ original opponent Jack Della Maddalena was called upon to challenge welterweight champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. Muhammad won his title with a commanding decision win over Edwards this past July, and Edwards actually angled for a rematch when he heard Muhammad needed a title challenger for the upcoming May pay-per-view.

“I heard about my replacement fight probably, like, a couple of weeks before,” Edwards said on his YouTube vlog. “I’d been in talks with the UFC, I was trying to step in to fight Belal, but I know that they sold London around me, so it would be difficult to take me off the card and leave Jack on the card. It would be weird to let Jack headline London.

“So we got a new opponent, Sean Brady, it’s a style that I’m used to. It’s a style that I’m comfortable fighting. So I’m looking forward to it, should be good.”

The fighter shuffle was necessitated by an injury to No. 1 welterweight contender Shavkat Rakhmonov. Muhammad was set to defend against Rakhmonov at UFC 310 in December before a bone infection forced Muhammad off of that card. Though their rematch was never officially booked, the understanding was that Rakhmonov was still next in line, so his unavailability opened the door for Della Maddalena to face Muhammad instead.

Edwards thinks change at the top of the division is a good thing, especially for him if he puts on a statement performance against Brady at The O2 Arena.

“Also, Jack getting replaced to fight for the title, I feel like that opened up the division more,” Edwards said. “If he goes out and gets the win, I think that’s the perfect fight for me next. If Belal beats him, then a rematch is definitely as well.

“I spoke to the UFC, they told me that after this win this is a No. 1 contender fight. Whoever wins this, fights for the title. Well, when I win this I fight for the title. That is my aim. My aim is to get back that two-time world championship and everyone knew the result of the fight with me and Belal, everyone knew that wasn’t me. That was fighting at home, 5 a.m. in the morning, there’s a lot of things that went into it that played a part in the performance. So I can’t wait to get back in there and just set everything right and I think it all starts with Sean Brady.”

Muhammad responded to the clip on social media, warning Edwards that he’s going to have to wait “three long years” before they fight again.

This is a reference to their feud that began in March 2021 when they first fought in the main event of a UFC APEX card. That bout ended in a no-contest when an eye poke left Muhammad unable to continue just 18 seconds into Round 2. Muhammad had to rattle off five consecutive wins before being granted a rematch with Edwards at UFC 314 in July 2024.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero press conference will feature Ryan Garcia, Rolly Romero, Devin Haney, Jose Ramirez, Teofimo Lopez, Arnold Barboza Jr., and more to promote their upcoming fights at the “Fatal Fury: City of Wolves” event on May 2 in New York City.

The Garcia vs. Romero press conference is expected to begin at 3 p.m. ET.

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Easy fight
| BJPenn.com

Jalin Turner is ready to show off his new and improved grappling.

After a nearly a year layoff, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) No. 13 ranked Turner returns to action at UFC 313 this weekend (Sat., March 8, 2025) against surging Chilen Ignacio Bahamondes from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“The Tarantula” has been out of action since losing to Renato Moicano at UFC 300, but it’s been for a good reason: to work on his grappling even more, which kind of got exposed in his fight against Moicano.

Turner almost scored a walk-off first-round knockout against Moicano at UFC 300, but when Moicano survived and the fight entered the second round, Turner was taken down by Moicano, did not get back up, and eventually finished (watch highlights).

The 29-year-old’s grappling has never been bad, as evidenced by his four submission wins and countless high-quality scrambles, but at UFC 300, he got into a place where he got uncomfortable, and Turner does not want that ever to happen again.

“Grappling was a personal journey. It has nothing to do with this matchup or anything like that; it was just me wanting to be a better martial artist,” Turner told UFC.com. “Taking into account how my fight at UFC 300 went, I felt like I needed to stay more disciplined and polished in my grappling. It was something I really needed to focus on and work on. That’s what I did the last 11 months.”

Turner takes on Bahamondes in the ‘Featured’ bout of the UFC 313 main card.

Remember that MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 313 fight card right here, starting with the ESPN2/ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. ET, before the main card start time at 10 p.m. ET (also on ESPN+).

To check out the latest and greatest UFC 313: “Pereira vs. Ankalaev” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

The UFC 313 fight card will feature 12 fights, including UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira defending his belt against Magomed Ankalaev in the main event.

Pereira, who has reeled off five straight UFC wins, will attempt to defend his UFC light heavyweight title for a fourth consecutive time. Ankalaev, who is 11-0-1 with 1 no-contest in his past 13 UFC fights, hasn’t lost since his UFC debut on March 17, 2018.

In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje will square off against Rafael Fiziev in a lightweight contest. Gaethje and Fiziev have clashed once before with Gaethje winning via majority decision at UFC 286 on March 18, 2023.

Check out the UFC 313 fight card below.

Main card (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET)

Alex Pereira vs. Magomed Ankalaev

Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev

Jalin Turner vs. Ignacio Bahamondes

Amanda Lemos vs. Iasmin Lucindo

King Green vs. Mauricio Ruffy

Prelims (ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET)

Curtis Blaydes vs. Rizvan Kuniev

Joshua Van vs. Rei Tsuruya

Brunno Ferreira vs. Armen Petrosyan

Alex Morono vs. Carlos Leal

Prelims (ESPN+ at 6:30 p.m. ET)

Mairon Santos vs. Francis Marshall

Djorden Santos vs. Ozzy Diaz

Chris Gutierrez vs. John Castaneda

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