Leon Edwards said he is desperate to right some wrongs against Sean Brady at UFC London on Saturday as he plots his way back to title contention.
Edwards (22-4-0) lost his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad on points in Manchester last July in what was his first defeat in almost a decade. Obviously, the fight didn't go to plan.
There were unseen circumstances that caused that. We're moving forward," Edwards told a news conference on Thursday. "I'm excited to go out there and perform again. I feel like I'm going in there to out my wrongs right. I feel like I owe I to the UK fans and myself."
Edwards said he was surprised at the size difference between him and Brady and expects to take advantage of his superior strength and reach.
"I was walking towards him and he had his back turned to me, I was like 'where the f--- is Sean? He turned around I was like what the hell. "I feel like the size difference, the reach, the strength, will play a big part in the fight."
It's a fight Edwards expects to win on his home patch and the 33-year-old said he has received assurances that a title fight will be next if he gets past Brady.
"For me yes 100%. I'm still ranked No. 1 in the division, there's been no movement in the division since I last fought," Edwards said. "I'll go out there, get a good performance against Sean, put him away, finish him and it will put me right back in line to where I belong."
Brady (17-1-0) is a late replacement for Edwards after Jack Della Maddalena was called up to fight Muhammad for the title in May, isn't backing away from the challenge. The American said he will look for a submission against Edwards and is confident he can produce a big upset.
"It's not what I see in Leon it's just what I see in myself. If you have a neck I can choke you, Leon has a neck so I'm going to try choke him," Brady said.
"Obviously it wasn't his best performance [against Muhammad] but if you go and you look stylistically at when he fought Kamaru [Usman] even the third time, Kamaru did very well.
"That fight's a lot closer than what people remember it to be. The fight before that when he landed the head kick, Kamaru was dominating him same way Belal was.
"Leon's slick, he's a very good striker, I just have to be present in the moment for 25 minutes and I'll get my hand raised."