Leon Edwards and UFC President Dana White seem to be in agreement that Colby Covington needs to win another fight to receive a second crack at Kamaru Usman.
Leon Edwards’ nearly two-year layoff has been among the most dramatic in recent history. For reasons that vary from travel restrictions, COVID causing his fight with Chimaev to be canceled on three separate occasions, Edwards being selective, and right up there as high as any other reason: fighters being uninterested in fighting Edwards.
The two names that most accurately fit this bill are Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington. Prior to all the Covington/Masvidal talk, it was a Masvidal/Edwards fight that seemed to make the most sense, but Masvidal did not give Edwards the time of day. Edwards recently placed Nate Diaz on his wish list also, but Diaz hit him with the ‘Who da fook is that guy’ treatment in response.
Leon Edwards Fed Up With Fighters’ “Excuses”
Yesterday, Colby Covington also swatted away the idea of fighting Edwards, citing the potential bout as “charity” work. Edwards has had enough of all the rejections and believes that Covington particularly is in no place to decline this fight if he really wants another world title opportunity.
“If he wants a title shot, he has to beat someone like me,” Edwards told ESPN. “I’m ranked No. 3 in the world, he got beat by the champion one fight ago (and) beat a washed-up Woodley, so I don’t understand where he goes from here if he wants to be a world champion. If Masvidal and Usman is getting made, then what does he do? He has to fight me.
“All these guys make excuses. ‘Oh, he’s not a big enough star, blah, blah, blah,’ but there’s no one that really wants to fight me. They all know I’m gonna get the victory over them, and I think that’s just making excuses as to why they don’t want to fight me. I’m ready to go, any of them guys in the top five, and that’s it.”
In case the logic of a potential world title shot is not enough to persuade Covington, Edwards decided to take the more direct, provoking approach as a fallback.
“Just stop being a b*tch and step up,” Edwards said. “He talks all this sh*t on social media, but he doesn’t want to fight. He makes excuses as to why he doesn’t want to fight. Then step up and stop being a b*tch. Let’s get this work.”
Colby Covington is currently the #1 contender, and the only fighter between him and Edwards is Gilbert Burns, who just received a world title shot Saturday at UFC 258. That said, this would be a no-brainer as a #1-contender fight, just as Dana White said it would be.
And if Kamaru Usman does face Jorge Masvidal next, a win for Covington would either get him a second chance at defeating Kamaru Usman or it will get him the fight he has been angling for against Jorge Masvidal. In essence, another win would create a win/win for Covington. We’ll see if this reasoning or Edwards’ name-calling is enough to sway the former interim champion in taking the fight.
Do you believe Colby Covington should accept the fight against Leon Edwards?
