Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards not too long ago spoke about postcode wars which have plagued England and different nations, together with Jamaica the place ‘Rocky’ spent a lot of his youth earlier than transferring to the UK.
For these unfamiliar, the postcode wars seek advice from a time when teams of youngsters, normally boys, would defend their “turf” by preventing gangs from different postal codes in the event that they dared to enter a postcode they didn’t reside in. It’s not totally totally different from the turf wars between rival gangs in america just like the Crips and the Bloods that dominated American tv within the mid-to-late 90s.
And identical to with lots of the big-name gangs within the U.S., youngsters and younger adults within the UK would usually put their lives on the road for what primarily amounted to a fierce satisfaction within the space they known as house and a consequential hate of anybody who wasn’t from there.
Sadly, gang tradition remains to be as sturdy as ever in nations like England and Australia, usually leading to property injury, critical damage, and even loss of life.
Throughout a latest interview with Louis Theroux, Edwards spoke about his robust upbringing in Jamaica and on the imply streets of Birmingham the place he usually fought rivals entrenching on his turf.
“From faculty, you recognize, I’ve at all times—I’m the one which at all times, um—I’m the buddy that, like, should you’re subsequent to me, you’re within the battle. ‘Trigger, you recognize, I received’t go away you, you recognize? And, um, so I had the identify ‘Rocky’ from faculty,” Edwards stated. “Straightener, simply one-on-one. I don’t know, may—may very well be something, or postcode, or no matter. It’s bizarre, however on the time, I really believed it.
“Um, I used to be group Erdington, say, like, B23. With a younger mentality, and your mates are doing the identical factor, and that’s your surroundings, I believe you’re extra more likely to be a product of your surroundings. It’s like, similar as Jamaica, you recognize? Like, there, the those who have died over it in all probability don’t even know the explanation why it began. And so they’ve died over it.”
Leon Edwards returns to the octagon on March 22
After all, these days are lengthy behind Leon Edwards. Immediately, ‘Rocky’ is likely one of the finest pound-for-pound blended martial artists on the planet.
After seeing his 12-fight win streak snapped by Belal Muhammad in his final outing, Edwards will return to the Octagon on March 22 when the UFC heads again to London for an additional stacked Battle Evening in ‘The Massive Smoke.’ In the primary occasion of the night, Edwards will face rising contender Jack Della Maddalena in a title eliminator — not less than on Maddalena’s aspect of issues.
