UFC president White offers hope to Wembley fight after Edwards’ jawdropping win

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UFC president Dana White has offered hope to British fight fans by indicating he could be tempted to bring Leon Edwards' first welterweight title defence to Wembley Stadium.

White has always insisted he will never do a fight outdoors in England due to the unpredictable weather, but appeared to backtrack on that on Saturday night after Edwards captured UFC gold.

The Brit, who was born in Jamaica but fights out of Birmingham, was losing to Kamaru Usman going into the fifth and final round of their bout, but connected with a devastating head kick to knock the champion out cold.

And speaking afterwards, White indicated he could be willing to bring the UFC back to England for Edwards' first title defence, following back-to-back sold out nights at London's O2 Arena with Paddy Pimblett and Molly McCann.

White said: "We can go to England whenever the hell we want to now. We were selling out England before, now you just start looking at bigger arenas… you know, I'm scared to go outside, I'm definitely scared to go outside in England.

"I'm serious but joking about Wembley, but I mean, anything is possible in England now. It would be fun [Wembley], but scary at the same time. The weather isn't the greatest over there in England."

Edwards appeared enthused by White's comments, insisting he wants to come back and fight in England again having won the belt in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Asked about where he wants his next fight, the newly-crowned champion replied: "Nah, Wembley for sure, 100 per-cent, Wembley has to be done. This has never been done before, having a guy from Birmingham in the UK, I did it from the UK. I know Bisping did it first but he did it from living in America. It's hard for people like me to relate to say 'we can do it as well'.

"I made a point to stay in the UK to achieve this to show the guys coming up that if you believe in your country, believe in your team, you can achieve it, that's what I did. From a little small gym in Birmingham. It's a crazy story. Being born in Jamaica and winning the UFC world title, it's a mad story.

  • UFC
  • Conor Mcgregor
  • Dana White
  • London

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