Remember the intense build-up to UFC 296 in late 2023, when welterweight star Colby Covington tried to hype his title fight against then-champion Leon Edwards? During the pre-fight press conference, ‘Chaos’ crossed every line, leaning heavily into mental warfare by bringing up the Jamaican-British star’s late father with degrading remarks, instantly taking things from “zero to 100.”
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“On Saturday night, I’m going to bring you to a place you never want to be. I’m going to bring you to the seventh level of hell. We’ll say what’s up to your dad while we’re there.” That comment alone outraged fans and, as a result, fired up Leon Edwards, further escalating the feud. Later, Covington pushed boundaries even more when, in another interview, he compared Edwards’ father to Adolf Hitler, sparking additional backlash and, consequently, fueling shocking assumptions about Rocky’s family.
So, here’s everything we know about the story surrounding Leon Edwards’ father, Rufus.
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Who was Rufus Edwards, Leon Edwards’ father?
Leon Edwards faced a challenging upbringing in his native Jamaica, where crime and violence shaped his early years, largely because of his father, Rufus Edwards, who engaged in “questionable activities.” As a result, ‘Rocky’ openly acknowledged in an ESPN interview that his father led a g-ng and that poverty and crime dominated daily life.
“In Jamaica, the neighborhood that I was brought up in, it was a g-ng-infested neighborhood. Sh–touts, dr-gs… It’s weird to be normalized to hearing g–shots. But my dad was the g-ng leader… That’s the reason why he came to the UK, to give money to Jamaica and to support the g-ngs,” Leon Edwards admitted ahead of his fight against Belal Muhammad.
“This guy used my dad’s death as entertainment. It took a lot for me to calm down, stay focused to win this fight.”@Leon_edwardsmma 🏆 🇬🇧 🇯🇲#UFC296 pic.twitter.com/8V2a0j2TED
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) December 17, 2023
Because of this harsh environment, Leon Edwards moved to Birmingham, England, after his father relocated to London and settled in the crime-ridden area of Aston. Unfortunately, g–men shot and killed Leon Edwards’ father outside a London nightclub on October 2, 2004. They attacked him on the dancefloor at Spotlight Night Club in West Croydon over a money dispute when ‘Rocky’ was just 14 years old.
During the attack, the club’s head doorman, Mark Warmington, also died while trying to stop the shooters. Later, a jury at Bristol Crown Court acquitted all nine men whom authorities had charged in connection with Rufus Edwards’ murder.
Leon Edwards recalls the night gunmen tragically killed his father
Leon Edwards always sensed that the path his father had chosen would lead nowhere good. On that fateful night in October, around 2 a.m. in his new Birmingham home, ‘Rocky’ told the BBC how a late-night phone call changed everything. “When it’s a late phone call, you know it’s something bad.”
His mother answered, and moments later, her sobs pierced the silence. “I knew what he was involved in, so I knew eventually something would happen to my dad,” Leon Edwards said. “It was a traumatic situation. It wasn’t like he died in his sleep – he got mur—ed.” Since then, now 33, the UFC star has earned numerous accolades, yet he still doesn’t know every detail about his father’s death.
The loss, however, pushed ‘Rocky’ down a dark path, consumed by anger and pain. Fortunately, at the right moment, his mother stepped in, introducing him to MMA at 17 in the hope of changing his life. Edwards embraced the opportunity, made the right choices, and ultimately rose to become one of the top welterweights in the world and one of Britain’s premier MMA fighters of all time.
Written by
Edited by
Aaditya Varu