Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards has been told to retire immediately following a devastating knockout defeat to Carlos Prates at UFC 322. The third-round stoppage marked Edwards’s first knockout loss and his third consecutive defeat.
Edwards had hoped a win would set up a grudge match with rising Irish contender Ian Garry, but Garry instead publicly urged him to end his career, posting: “Leon, retire.”
Meanwhile, newly crowned welterweight champion Islam Makhachev — who defeated Jack Della Maddalena in the main event — said he is open to fighting Prates or Michael Morales next, though he noted he was not surprised by either contender’s performances.
