UFC Champion Leon Edwards Wanted To Be a Gangster Growing Up Like Gang Leader Father

Reigning UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards says he would be dead or in jail if not for the discipline of his sport.

Edwards, who grew up in Kingston, Jamaica before moving to the United Kingdom, said that "killing seemed normal" and there was "gunshots and death all around us" when his family lived in Jamaica, in an interview with The Guardian. Edwards opened up about his father's role as a gang leader and how that influenced his lifestyle and ambitions at a young age.

“My dad was a gang leader in my area and so I was one of the few kids who had a bicycle and a skateboard," Edwards said. "But at the time, my goal in life was to be like my dad – the biggest gangster. Now I look at my own son, who is 10, and I couldn’t imagine him living my life. But I have a normal mentality now. Back then you grew up with dying and I can see now how the mental health of the community was damaged.”

Edwards praised his father's decision to move the family from Jamaica to the UK when he was eight years old. However, it didn't remove their family from violence.

When Edwards was 13 years old, his father was killed in a London night club. Edwards then started getting involved in his gang activity himself throughout his early teen years, he told The Guardian.

“When I came to Birmingham the two biggest gangs were the Burger Boys and the Johnson Crew," Edwards said. "Aston is the Johnsons while the Burger Boys was Handsworth. There were postcode wars and, for me, it was the norm because I came from a similar thing in Jamaica.”

But then, at the age of 17, Edwards says his mother helped him escape gang life by signing him up for a boxing club.

"She created a path for me into mixed martial arts. We had moved to a new area, Erdington, and when a gym opened she said: ‘You should try this out.’ I know she was saying it to keep me away from the street and I said: ‘OK, I’ll give it a go.’ I wanted to make her a little proud.”

Edwards started his professional career in 2011, and made his Octagon debut against Claudio Silva in 2014. Nine years later, he has a 21-3 record with one no contest. He has five first round finishes, with seven knockout wins and three by submission.

He won the undisputed UFC welterweight championship by knocking out Kamaru Usman in the final minute of their fight at UFC 278. With the victory, Edwards became the 13th undisputed UFC welterweight champion in UFC history.

He's currently on a 12-fight unbeaten streak and will defend his title against Colby Covington on Dec. 16.