Leon Edwards continues to build toward a potential fight with Ian Machado Garry.
Edwards (22-5 MMA, 14-4 UFC) mapped out a three-fight plan that starts with Carlos Prates (22-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 322 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Disney+/FX, ESPN+) from Madison Square Garden in New York. If he can rebound against Prates, Edwards wants Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC), who meets Belal Muhammad in the UFC Fight Night 265 co-headliner a week later in Qatar.
“Ian’s biggest achievement right now in the sport is losing to Shavkat, and that’s facts,” Edwards said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “That’s his greatest achievement, that he can brag that he didn’t get finished and that he lost to Shavkat. If it comes, it comes. iIf it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
Edwards is set to compete in his first three-round fight since 2019. It’s also the first time he’ll fight a striker since 2021.
“I’m so excited for this fight,” Edwards said. “It’s been a long time since (Nate) Diaz, since my last three-round fight. I’m excited to go out there and just mix it up and just get to work. It’s two different fighting styles, as well. If you’re fighting a wrestler, it’s different from how you would fight a striker.
“So I get to show more skills, and it’s going to be a good one. I trained for three rounds. I feel like when you train for five rounds, your body gets used to the pace of the five rounds. A three-round fight, you want to try and sprint it. That’s my mentality going into it.”
