Leon Edwards believes he is hitting the limit of what he can achieve in the UFC’s 170-pound fold.

The Briton takes on the third defence of his UFC welterweight title late this Saturday night in Manchester in a rematch against top contender Belal Muhammad — where, if successful, it will mean he has defeated three of the top four contenders in the division in recent performances.

And while he insists that he isn’t looking past Muhammad who, like Edwards, has pieced together an impressive undefeated streak at 170-pounds, Edwards says that he isn’t sure the division can deliver him the type of so-called ‘money fights’ that a possible move to middleweight, or a showdown with 155-pound champion Islam Makhachev might.

“I don’t think there’s really any big money fights right now in the welterweight division,” Edwards told veteran combat sports reporter Kevin Iole, per MMA Fighting.

“Just tough opponents in the division but there’s no big star that would add more value. Shavkat [Rakhmonov] obviously is a good talent. Everyone’s going on about him. Obviously, Ian Garry, we trained together before. So, there’s a story behind that as well. I’m focused on Belal right now. Go out there, take care of business next weekend and after that, let’s see where the cookie crumbles.”

This weekend’s UFC 304 main event is, of course, a second chapter of a rivalry that began in early 2021. On that occasion, the fight was called off early into the second round after Muhammad was deemed unable to continue amid an accidental eyepoke from Edwards.

This time around, Edwards doesn’t see the bout hitting its 25-minute duration — but by less controversial means.

“I’m gonna definitely finish,” Edwards said. “I feel like he’s there for it. I feel like he’s tailor-made for me, the way he fights. I’m going for the finish, for sure.”