Leon Edwards made it clear to the UFC that he had one condition before agreeing to headline UFC London.
The Birmingham fighter is the main event at UFC Fight Night 255 at the O2 Arena this Saturday, facing rising contender Sean Brady.
This fight will be Edwards` first since losing his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 in Manchester last July.
Edwards, 33, lost his title in the early hours of the morning because the UFC scheduled the pay-per-view for a North American audience.
He made it very clear to the UFC that he would not fight in the American time zone again on his home soil before accepting the main event spot at the O2 Arena.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show, he mentioned the timing for this weekend: “Never again.”
“The first thing [the UFC] said to me was, ‘We’re coming back to the UK in March.’ I said, ‘OK, what time are we fighting?’”
“They said: ‘Normal time,’ and I replied, `Perfect, let’s do it.’”
Edwards believes the late start time significantly contributed to him losing his UFC title.
He explained: “That 4am/5am walkout was crazy. I tried hard to get into it, but I just couldn’t.”
“I feel like my reactions were slow. I knew in my head what I wanted to do and what I had trained for.”
“But for some reason, my body and mind were not in sync as they usually are during fights.”
“I walked out at around 5am. It didn`t help me warm up and realize: ‘You have to fight now!’”
“Even though he won, it was still a close fight on my worst day. He won three rounds, and I won two… Even on my worst day, it was still close.”
A dominant victory over Brady could give Edwards another chance at the 170lb title, which Muhammad will defend against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315 in May.
However, he might need another win if Shavkat Rakhmonov recovers from his injury.
Elton Marrow