00:00 Team Renegade are based in Birmingham and boast a number of top talents in the MMA world
00:07 that train and fight at the Renegade facilities to try and take their brand to the very top.
00:13 World champion Leon Edwards has spoken openly about how he could train all over the world
00:18 but chooses his home facility in Birmingham as his sparring partner the Jedi Akon Wanlis
00:23 prepares to fight on the next Octagon MMA card.
00:27 Edwards is grateful for where his journey in the fighting world began.
00:31 Martial arts itself saved my life.
00:32 It gave me direction, gave me discipline, gave me focus and that's what a lot of young
00:37 kids need today.
00:38 They don't have nothing that they want to focus on.
00:40 Without martial arts, Akon doesn't really exist.
00:43 Do you know what I mean?
00:45 I definitely would push my kids into it.
00:47 I'd push any one of the kids into it and even if they don't stick to it and fight, I wouldn't
00:52 steer them into fighting but I'd steer them into getting fit and training some jiu-jitsu
00:57 and training some kickboxing and seeing how their self-esteem improves and how better
01:01 to do in their life.
01:03 As Akon trains in the Renegade gym, he's alongside the pound for pound greatest fighter in the
01:08 UK, Leon Edwards.
01:10 So what impact does the world champion have on the other fighters?
01:14 100% you know like getting rounds with Leon, even if I get one, two rounds, sometimes I'm
01:20 here and I'm stuck with Leon for a whole five rounds and it's hell.
01:24 But that is just you know like it grows you so much at a level.
01:28 If you can just stay calm in the fire and you know you train with the best in the world,
01:33 not to say not put him on the pedestal and go oh fighting and stuff like that, just learn.
01:37 You know everyone's here to learn so you come in and you're on your own journey in martial
01:41 arts and you grow 1% each day and if you can grow 1% each day with the best in the world,
01:47 you can't go wrong.
01:48 So Akon first and foremost is an immense fighter.
01:52 He is on another level, he really is.
01:54 So that's the first and foremost and then everything else he has is added extras on
01:59 top.
02:00 When I first met him I could see that he had the style potential, I could see he had the
02:02 skills, I could see he had everything.
02:04 You know what I mean, just need to guide him in the right direction for his career and
02:08 you know we're on the exact trajectory that we want it to be on and right now everybody
02:12 in the world can see that he is literally shining like a star that he is.
02:15 So it's a very good moment to see.
02:18 Obviously for me capturing the title, we've got great, great, great fighters coming from
02:23 Team Renegade and I think this is where mixed martial arts is at the moment.
02:28 I'll continue reigning as I'm doing and like I said there's a lot of other guys just coming
02:32 behind me and I'm excited for the future.
02:34 It's good to see, this is one of my main reasons why I stayed in Birmingham, just to give the
02:40 ricochet feedback for me winning the world title.
02:43 I can see the ricochet in the gym.
02:47 Akon will feature on the Octagon MMA card for just the second time since signing with
02:52 the company.
02:53 With big hopes to make it at the top level in the sport, fighting on the UFC cards one
02:58 day, it's certainly a homegrown talent with a big future ahead.
03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]
