Dana White confirms Leon Edwards’ maiden title defence will be ‘prime time’ in the UK

Dana White has confirmed that Leon Edwards’ maiden title defence against Kamaru Usman will be ‘prime time’ in the UK as he continues to search for venues to host the event.

Edwards shocked the MMA world when he knocked out Usman in the fifth round of their welterweight title fight on Sunday morning, and is set to defend his title in the trilogy bout in the UK in the coming months.

White talked up how ‘huge’ the match-up would be, confirming the event would take place in England despite plans to go elsewhere.

UFC president Dana White has confirmed several venues are under consideration to play host

‘First of all, this thing is going to be so huge, not just for the UK but for Europe,’ said White. ‘And we would hold it prime time in the UK.

‘We’re looking at every option out there right now, we’re looking at all the venues in England. Not just London, we’re looking at every venue in England. We’re looking at everything. 

‘We’re seeing what’s available and what’s not, there are a lot of curfews that you’ve got to deal with in England, but we literally worked on that today.

‘We weren’t supposed to go there, we were supposed to go somewhere else, but I’m going to England.’ 

Leon Edwards’ head kick KO of Kamaru Usman will go down as one of the best knockouts ever

White said that the event will be ‘huge’ with UFC in the UK now where he wanted it to be

White pushed the event, proud that the UFC is now as big in the UK as he hoped it one day would be.

The company hasn’t visited the UK since 2018, and the next event promises to be huge. 

‘We put a fight night on sale at the O2 and it sold out in minutes, imagine what we could do with this thing,’ said White.

‘It’s going to be massive over there. We weren’t planning on going to England again, just like the last time I left England – think about how many years I’ve been working on the UK and we’re finally where I hoped we would be some day.’