UFC 304’s Leon Edwards hits back at claims incredible viral trick shot that left MMA fans blown away was ‘fake’
LEON EDWARDS has revealed the truth behind his incredible and viral trick shot.
The UFC’s welterweight champion went viral on social media this week with a trick shot footie superstars around the world would be proud of.
Edwards, 32, nonchalantly kicked a basketball into the hoop with a superb left-footed volley after stopping one of his final pre-fight runs.
‘Rocky’ made the incredible strike from well-over 20 yards away from the hoop, which barely reverberated as the ball caught 90 per cent net.
MMA fans were blown away by the Aston Villa fan’s incredible technique.
Many, however, were sceptical of the legitimacy of the clip – with some claiming it was a well-put-together fake.
But Edwards said: “I was just going for a morning jog and the ball came towards me and I kicked it in.”
There were shades of Ronaldinho‘s famous crossbar challenge with Nike back in the early 2000s, which turned out to be staged.
Edwards, however, insists his trick shot was the real deal.
The Team Renegade skipper said: “My one was real, I don’t know about Ronaldinho’s.”
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Edwards then laughed at the realisation the ball would’ve gone miles away had he missed the target.
“Exactly,” he said. “And I would have kept on jogging.”
Pride of Birmingham Edwards will renew his rivalry with former foe Belal Muhammad early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 304 in Manchester.
Their first meeting ended due to an inadvertent eye poke in Las Vegas three years ago.
“I literally thought I was blind,” Muhammad told SunSport in an exclusive interview when recalling their first meeting. “The toughest thing I had to do was deal with the eye surgery.
“When you have an eye surgery, it’s the most depressing thing because you can’t do nothing.
“You have to be in a certain head position for, you know, four or five months. You can’t train and I love to train.”
He said: “Literally, it took like maybe like 30 or 40 minutes after it [happened] to finally see some light out of there.
“You’re like, ‘Oh my God, I still got vision. I still could see.’ It was like, it was tough, man.
“At that moment, it was like one of those heart-dropping moments, heart-wrenching moments for me.
“Like like you said, when you bring up back the memory with it, it like still puts fear in me.”