Leon Edwards will aim to snap a two-fight losing streak when he returns to the Octagon at UFC 322, where he faces Carlos Prates.
Edwards was on a seven-year, 12-fight win streak before losing to Belal Muhammad last July, a defeat that saw the Briton drop the welterweight title. Then, in March, he suffered a defeat by Sean Brady.
Both losses occurred on home soil, with Edwards outpointed by Muhammad in Manchester and submitted by Brady in London.
Now, however, he has a chance to bounce back as he faces Prates at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Edwards, 34, will face the Brazilian, 32, on the undercard of a welterweight title fight between Jack Della Maddalena, who dethroned Muhammad in May, and Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev gave up the lightweight title in May and quickly announced his desire to challenge “JDM”, who had just taken the belt from a friend of Makhachev in Muhammad.
Meanwhile, fourth-ranked Edwards and No 9 Prates will both be eyeing a future title shot, though each man has work to do.
A win over Prates would move Edwards closer, but he would likely need another victory or two to secure a title shot, while Prates just bounced back from an April decision loss to Ian Machado Garry.
Admittedly, Prates responded in scintillating fashion, knocking out Geoff Neal with a brutal spinning back elbow this month, in the final second of the first round of their bout.
Those results followed an 11-fight win streak for Prates, dating back to 2019, though only four of those victories took place in the UFC.
Also at UFC 322, Zhang Weili will challenge Valentina Shevchenko for her flyweight title in the co-main event. Zhang is the current women’s strawweight champion, but she will vacate her title ahead of UFC 322.
In fact, Zhang’s title will become vacant on 25 October, when Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern clash to crown a successor to the Chinese star.
