From gang wars to the UFC: The story of Leon Edwards

A trilogy fight between two of the UFC's greatest fighters takes place on Saturday in London between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

The last fight between the pair saw one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history, when England's Leon Edwards sparked Usman out cold with a brutal head kick, claiming a fifth-round victory.

The pair have now beaten each other one time, with Usman defeating Edwards in 2015 via unanimous decision, setting this fight up to be one of the best-deciding fights in the history of MMA.

Let's turn to Leon Edwards' journey and how the Englishman came from a crime-stricken childhood to fighting in the UFC.

Edwards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and lived with his two parents and brother Fabian. They lived in a wooden shack with one bedroom.

Picture – Instagram @leonedwardsmma

As a kid, the UFC star was surrounded by poverty-stricken war, with killings, drugs, crime, and gunshots following his everyday life.

Aged five, Edwards' father moved to London to be closer to his mother. The rest of the family followed suit and moved to Aston, Birmingham when he was nine years old.

According to espn.co.uk, Edwards said, "Aston was in a constant gang war. There was the Johnson Crew and the Burger Bar Boys. They were rivals, and violence constantly broke out between both sides. I fell in with the younger kids."

At 14, Edwards heard the news no child would want to hear, losing his father after he was shot and killed in a nightclub in London.

The death of Edwards' father turned his life into a downward spiral, becoming involved in fights, stabbings, and selling drugs.

Edwards was mostly in trouble for street fighting, helping to defend his friends, and trying to intimidate other people.

According to espn.co.uk, he said, "That's why my nickname is "Rocky." I got that from school. That was before I got into MMA. I got it just from scrapping in the streets."

When Edwards was 17, his mum wanted him to join an MMA gym called the Ultimate Training Center to get him off the streets and use his aggressive energy more positively.

After training two to three times a day, every day, Edwards had his first fight eight months later. He went on to win four bouts in one day, winning a tournament at his local gym.

"From then on, I stuck to MMA. I knew it was what I wanted to do. I was a natural at it. I believe this is what God put me here to do", according to ESPN.

Edwards won the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts welterweight title in 2014 and signed with the UFC later in the same year.

After losing to Claudio Silva in his UFC debut, Edwards has gone on to win 20 fights, with two losses and one no-contest, securing the UFC welterweight title in his last fight against Usman in August 2022.