There is nothing more that Leon Edwards (18-3) wants than to climb into a UFC octagon and compete. The third ranked welterweight in the world has been out more than a year and a half, and it hasn’t been due to injuries.
Edwards was supposed to fight in March of 2020, but COVID shut things down. Then, the lockdowns in England prevented him from getting a training camp. From there, the UFC had trouble getting him a fight.
They finally landed on Khamzat Chimaev (9-0), but between Chimaev and Edwards, the fight fell through three times. Now, Edwards is back at square one while waiting for the UFC to find him an opponent.
After Chimaev had to pullout last week, Dana White said that the UFC was interested in booking Edwards against Colby Covington (16-2). Covington was in talks to fight Jorge Masvidal (35-14), however, it now appears that Masvidal will fight Kamaru Usman (18-1) next.
In theory, it makes sense to book this fight. Covington and Edwards are the second and third ranked welterweights in the UFC. It’s a great matchup, but Covington isn’t into it. Yesterday, Covington said he wasn’t interested in, “Charity work,” in reference to fighting Edwards.
Will the UFC make this fight?
Edwards was interviewed by ESPN’s Ariel Helwani and he issued a response to Covington’s comments. Edwards said, “Stop being a b*tch. Step up, he talks all this sh*t on social media but he doesn’t want to fight. He makes excuses. Stop being a b*tch and let’s get this work.”
As mentioned, this is the matchup that the UFC is wanting to make. Edwards earned a lot of respect with the UFC front office in accepting the Khamzat Chimaev fight. Chimaev was ranked fifteenth while Edwards was third. There wasn’t a ton to gain for Edwards and a lot to lose.
Because of that, White wants to reward Edwards with a big fight. As of now, the plan is to keep Edwards on the headliner of the March 13th Fight Night. They want Covington in this matchup, but there’s still a ways to go in making that happen.