Leon Edwards believes he is deserving of a world title shot for his next fight and, for a moment, the UFC seemed to agree with him.
After Kamaru Usman’s first welterweight title defense against Colby Covington hit a snag, the UFC turned their attention to Jorge Masvidal for Usman to defend against at Madison Square Garden. The UFC bailed on those plans to make Masvidal/Diaz instead. The promotion was also prepared to leave Colby Covington behind once again in favor of Leon Edwards. In fact, in a recent interview with BT Sport, nothing in Edwards’ comments suggests that he has been ruled out as an option for Usman’s first title defense.
“I spoke to the UFC this week about stepping in for Usman to fight Usman,” Edwards said. “And somehow, that fell through and they made Masvidal and Nate. So there was never no mention between me and Masvidal. It was about me and Usman for November 2nd, and that fell first. So that’s it, really. Like I said, I wanted to fight anybody. I’m top four in the world now on an eight-fight win streak. So I believe I’ll be world champion by early next year.”
Leon Edwards would then provide a brief summary of how his conversation with the UFC brass went regarding the UFC 244 event.
“They phoned me and said, ‘Would you be ready for November 2nd?’ I said, ‘Yes, I’ll be ready.’
“They said, ‘Would you fight Usman?’ I said, ‘I’ll be ready to go.’ I mean, eight weeks? So that’s it. Nothing about Masvidal. He turned it down many times.”
Jorge Masvidal will instead be headlining UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden in a bout that Leon Edwards only scoffs at:
“Two journeymen’s fighting for whatever it is they’re fighting for. I believe I am number one. I believe I should have a title shot. And I aim to be a world champion.”
Do you believe Leon Edwards is deserving of a title shot against Kamaru Usman?
