Shortly after both Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal picked up wins over Gunnar Nelson and Darren Till, respectively, at UFC Fight Night 147 this past March, the two men were involved in backstage altercation inside the O2 Arena in London, England (video here).
And thus, “three piece and a soda” was born.
Despite their tussle, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) opted not to book a fight between the two talented Welterweights, instead setting up a fight between Masvidal and Ben Askren, which is set to go down at UFC 239 on July 6, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Edwards, meanwhile, was left out in the cold. But to hear “Rocky” tell the tale, the fight was offered to “Gamebred” but turned it down.
“That was the fight to make. I think the UFC offered Masvidal the fight and he turned it down. It is what it is. I will see him again and his day will come,” said Edwards on a recent edition of The Ariel Helwani MMA Show.
“From what I have heard, they offered him the fight and he turned it down. Clearly the man don’t want this smoke. So it is what it is. I was ready to go straight away in June. They offered him the fight and he turned it down. Now here we are. I am looking for another top five and go from there.”
Of course, UFC president Dana White stated afterward it was due to Leon’s low ranking that the promotion decided to take a trip to “Funky” town, instead.
While Ben and Jorge are ready to tango in “Sin City,” Edwards is still left looking for a fight. That’s why he was quick to throw his name in the hat to fill the void left behind by Tyron Woodley against Robbie Lawler.
“Why not step up and take on a former champion like Robbie Lawler. I’m on a seven-fight win streak, so it would be good for him to redeem himself. So I thought, ‘Why not?’ Give me six weeks and I will go out there, beat him and then a title shot.”
Should he not get that fight either, Edwards — who has gone 7-0 since 2016 — is eyeing a 170-pound showdown against Rafael dos Anjos, who defeated Kevin Lee last Saturday night (May 18, 2019) at UFC Fight Night 152 (recap here).
If Leon had his druthers, that bout would take place as the co-main event for the upcoming UFC 242 pay-per-view (PPV) event on September 7 in Abu Dhabi, which is set to be headlined by a Lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier.
Are you interested?