Leon Edwards believes he fully deserves to fight for the UFC welterweight title, but thinks the promotion is trying to hold him back and get him beat.
Edwards is coming off a dominant unanimous decision win against Nate Diaz at UFC 263. The Brit has been calling for a title shot since then as he believes he has done enough to earn it. His resume speaks for itself as he has won nine out of his last ten fights since his loss to Kamaru Usman in 2015, with one no-contest against Belal Muhammad at UFC Vegas 21.
‘Rocky’ will have to wait, however, as the UFC has booked the title rematch between reigning champion Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington, who has one win on his resume since his first loss to ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ at UFC 245.
With the title rematch between Usman and Covington decided, Dana White believes a fight between Edwards and Jorge Masvidal makes a lot of sense. The Birmingham native has also been called out by Gilbert Burns, but has stated that he’d prefer to sit around and wait for his title shot instead.
‘They Are Trying To Get Me Beat’
Speaking to MMA Fighting, Edwards said that the UFC is trying to hold him back from becoming a champion.
“It’s been six years since my last loss,” Edwards said. “Colby got beat by the champion, fought Woodley, the fight ended by injury, sat out for over a year and got a title shot. But when I go on and get 10 fights in a row, now, ‘He needs one more.’ Every time, it’s one more. I think they’re trying to get me beat, but I cannot lose. I truly believe that I will be the next world champion. They’re trying to hold me back from it, but it’s coming. I truly believe it.”
‘He Won’t Take It’
When asked about Masvidal’s social media jibes, Edwards said that it’s all noise because ‘Gamebred’ wouldn’t accept a fight with him previously.
“I know he won’t take it,” Edwards said. “He talks all this s*** on social media, and plays this tough guy on social media, but we all know he’s not going to take it. He’s coming off back-to-back losses, he’s trying to get another win to get his name back where he was. But I truly believe he won’t take it. He chose to fight Ben Askren over me. That proves enough he’s not willing to fight me.”
Do you think Leon Edwards deserved the title shot more than Colby Covington?
See also:
