Former UFC welterweight champion and current No. 1 contender Leon Edwards seems destined to return at UFC London on March 22, but his opponent has been a bit of a mystery.
According to Benny P, an insider on the Australian MMA scene, Edwards will be facing no. 4 contender, Jack Della Maddalena in what would be a wildly exciting main event for the show.
The Matchmaker picked up the report and posted it on social media as well.
As the Matchmaker pointed out, this fight still has to be treated as a rumor for now. However, it does make sense.
The UFC is going to try to deliver a big fight to headline the card in London, and putting the hometown hero Edwards in action is a given. Matching him with an all-action contender like JDM, who also has a large following, makes for a potential blockbuster.
Edwards hasn’t fought since he lost the welterweight title to Belal Muhammad in July. JDM has been out dealing with an injury since he stopped Gilbert Burns in March.
It should be mentioned that JDM was rumored to be the opponent for another former champion, Kamaru Usman, in his return at UFC 312, which is in the latter’s home country of Australia.
That fight is still listed as a “rumored upcoming fight” on Tapology, and some reports suggest it isn’t happening. The UFC may be faced with deciding whether it is more valuable to have JDM in his country or Edwards in his, or it could hinge on Usman’s readiness.
In any case, the smarter bet for JDM’s return is against Edwards in London. The UFC 312 card already has a strong fight at the top of its lineup, with Dricus du Plessis defending his title against Sean Strickland in a rematch.
Weili Zhang will also be defending her strawweight title against No. 1 contender Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event. There’s also still a chance we see Alexander Volkanovski added to that card in a matchup with Diego Lopes for an interim championship.
Because of the strength of UFC 312’s card and the potential to make it even stronger without JDM-Usman, it seems like JDM-Edwards is the better move.
But we’ll likely know for sure soon after the new year.
What’s Next For the UFC?
As contenders attempt to get into a position to challenge Weili for her title, No. 6 strawweight Mackenzie Dern faces No. 9 Amanda Ribas in the main event of UFC Vegas on January 11.
The UFC Apex event is the first UFC show of 2025, and it will end a three-week hiatus for the promotion. Here is a look at the entire card:
- Mackenzie Dern vs. Amanda Ribas – Strawweight
- Santiago Ponzinibbio vs. Carlston Harris – Welterweight
- Abdul Razak Alhassan vs. César Almeida – Middleweight
- Chris Curtis vs. Roman Kopylov – Middleweight
- Austin Bashi vs. Christian Rodriguez – Featherweight
- Punahele Soriano vs. Uroš Medić – Welterweight
- Jose Johnson vs. Felipe Bunes – Flyweight
- Marco Túlio vs. Ihor Potieria – Middleweight
- Thiago Moisés vs. Trey Ogden – Lightweight
- Andreas Gustafsson vs. Preston Parsons – Welterweight
- Ernesta Kareckaite vs. Nicolle Caliari – Flyweight
- Magomed Gadzhiyasulov vs. Bruno Lopes – Light Heavyweight
- Viktoriia Dudakova vs. Fatima Kline – Strawweight
- Nurullo Aliev vs. Yanal Ashmouz – Lightweight
