Leon Edwards has revealed he will '100 per cent' give Nate Diaz a title shot if he beats Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 279.

Edwards finally got his hands on the UFC welterweight title by finishing former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman by fifth-round knockout in the main event of UFC 278 at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on August 21.

Rocky's last-gasp victory set up the prospect of an immediate rematch with Usman, the former all-conquering welterweight champion, who was considered by many to be the best mixed martial artist in the world.

But, despite Edwards previously stating that Usman deserves a second chance, he recently admitted that Diaz could be the next man in line for a shot at the gold if he defeats Chimaev in two weeks' time.

During an appearance on The MMA Hour earlier this week, he said: “The scenes would be crazy.

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"I would 100 per cent give Nate a shot, because Nate’s a G. I always said it, even after the fight: He is who he is.

"He’s one of the greatest. The game has never changed him. So if that does happen then Nate’s definitely getting a shot.”

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Edwards, 30, was visibly overcome with emotion after finally getting his hands on the title he had sought after for so long.

He added: “Everyone keeps asking me, ‘How does it feel?’ but it’s hard to put into words.

“I think that’s why in my post-fight interview I was just crying, because it’s hard to — not just the moment of winning the UFC world championship, but getting to that point or achieving my dream, going through all the ups and downs throughout life and throughout my career.

"It’s still difficult to put into words. It still feels so surreal. It doesn’t feel real sometimes.  

“When you watch movies and you see people cry from happiness, I’ve never cried from happiness before in my life. So when I’m crying from happiness, that’s when you know it was real. It was such a surreal moment, and one that I will treasure forever.

"To think I didn’t know where Utah was, and now it’s stuck in my life forever. It’s an amazing story.”

Fighting out of Birmingham, but originally from Jamaica, Edwards became just the second British MMA fighter to win a UFC championship.

And fans will be delighted to know that his team are doing all they can to ensure that his first defence takes places on home soil.

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Edwards' manager Tim Simpson told MMA Fighting: “I think a homecoming fight in the UK is the main goal. The opponent, we’ll figure it out but he wants to fight in the UK. I think he deserves that.

“It will be massive, and I think he deserves that homecoming. Full circle from 2018 getting booed in his home country. He’s the hero now, and he deserves it. Really, that’s the only thing we really, really want. The rest will fall into line.”

“We’re working in partnership with the UFC and we’ll see what they feel strongly about and work from there,” he said. “But really it’s the location, which is the biggest thing.

“As Leon said, ‘I’m top of the mountain now, bring them on.’ The thing we’ll really fight for is getting it in the UK.”