Fabian Edwards: ‘[Leon Edwards] will smoke RDA and then make a run at the belt’

Undefeated prospect Fabian Edwards has backed his brother Leon Edwards to defeat Rafael dos Anjos when they clash in the main event of UFC San Antonio in July, and he believes a win over the Brazilian can springboard “Rocky” into the UFC’s welterweight title conversation.

Edwards—who takes on Jonathan Bosuku at Bellator London this weekend—revealed that his family are in good spirits following the announcement that his brother will get a crack at a top-five opponent for the first time.

“There’s a very good mood [among the Edwards family],” Edwards told MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast, “everyone’s happy.”

“It’s about time that the UFC pulled their finger out and gave him what he deserves. I’m glad they’ve listened to the public and finally they’ve given him a top-five opponent. Now it’s time for that championship; he’ll smoke RDA and then make a run at the belt.”

Edwards believes his brother is capable of changing public opinion on him with a win over the former lightweight champion.

“I think it will [be the performance that changes public opinion on Leon]. It doesn’t make sense how the public views him; it doesn’t make sense at all. There are just a lot of bandwagon people jumping on him that don’t know the sport too well.”

He also poked fun at those who keep bringing up Jorge Masvidal’s infamous “three-piece and a soda” comment following his back stage altercation with Edwards at UFC London.

“They’re saying, ‘three-piece and a soda’, we’re out here fighting, making enough money to buy the whole f*ckin’ chicken shop. We’re winning fights and making money, and you’ve got all these fat guys at home talking sh*t. At the end of the day when he goes out there and smokes RDA, they’ll have to give him respect. Real fans that know the sport ought to respect him.”

Again, Edwards underlined why he feels his brother will prove that he’s on a “different level” than dos Anjos.

“I really do [believe he’ll put in a big performance]. At the end of the day, I train with this man day-in, day-out, everyone in the gym knows how good he is. And then he goes out there and he performs. In his last fight, he was grappling with one of the best grapplers in the UFC [Gunnar Nelson] and everybody else would have stayed as far away as the can against Gunnar. That, to me, proves that he’s on a different level and he’s still young in the sport.”

Check out the latest episode of Eurobash. The Fabian Edwards interview beings at 1:31:00.