After seeing Jorge Masvidal get into a backstage altercation with his brother Leon following the conclusion of UFC London earlier this month, Fabian Edwards is now looking to settle the score by any means necessary.
Masvidal, who defeated Darren Till via knockout in UFC London’s main event, was doing an interview backstage when Leon Edwards, who pushed his welterweight win streak to seven with a co-main event victory over Gunnar Nelson, started to goad “Gamebred” into a potential showdown in July. Masvidal didn’t take too kindly to the call out, proceeded to walk over to “Rocky,” and the two eventually threw hands.
While Masvidal detailed the altercation and stated that Edwards engaged him with his hands up, that doesn’t seem to be the same story coming out of Edwards’ camp. According to Fabian Edwards, who fights under the Bellator MMA banner and holds an undefeated professional record of 6-0, Masvidal was the one who initiated the physical exchange.
“Like you seen in the video, my brother was walking by and he said to him, ‘July the 7th,’ Masvidal said, ‘maybe,’ and that was it, there was nothing really and truly; there was no sh*t talking. There was no instigating, [Leon] was trying to make a fight happen,” Edwards told MMA Fighting’s Peter Carroll.
“The thing that pissed me off about it was the way he walked over,” added Fabian. “He walked over calm; hands behind his back…and then he starts throwing punches knowing well that security was going to jump on it. I tried to smash his head in myself, but we had about 100 security guards between us, so I couldn’t get my hands on him.
“If I see that man again he’s f-cked. I probably won’t see him in the cage because he’s a different weight class to me, but if I see him outside I’m smashing him. It’s personal now.”
Well, that escalated pretty quickly.
While Masvidal’s knockout win over Till may lead to a No. 1 contender’s bout at 170 pounds, Team Edwards is trying to lock down a grudge match with “Gamebred” to settle the beef. If they aren’t able to do it inside of the cage then Masvidal may have to watch his back outside of it.
“We’ve been looking for that fight and he’s gave [UFC] a reason now,” Edwards said. “That fight has got to happen. The UFC has to make this fight. It doesn’t matter what [Masvidal] wants; they need to make sure that this fight happens next. They’ve both just had a massive win and it makes sense.
“He’s gone and done what he’s done; a sneak attack. He deserves a beating. He’s got to get a beating regardless of whether it’s inside or outside the cage,” Fabian added.
We shall see how UFC decides to play up the feud between Masvidal and Edwards, but if the promotion was smart it would strike while the iron is hot and a book a fight right away.