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Jorge Masvidal’s manger, Abraham Kawa, says his client was never offered a fight with Leon Edwards.
Earlier this week, streaking UFC contender Leon Edwards said welterweight rival Jorge Masvidal turned down the opportunity to fight him.
“The only fight that makes sense now is me and Masvidal, and that’s the fight that I want,” Edwards said in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. “I spoke to the UFC. They want the fight. I want the fight. But Masvidal is turning the fight down. They say he doesn’t want the fight, so I don’t know. I’m just here. I’ll be ready to go at the end of the year and hopefully get one of those fights.”
Masvidal, who got into a scuffle with Edwards earlier this year at UFC London, is only interested in a title bout against welterweight champ Kamaru Usman or a big money fight with former ‘champ champ’ Conor McGregor.
With that said, according to Masvidal’s manager, Abraham Kawa, ‘Gamebred’ was never offered a grudge match with ‘Rocky’ in the first place.
#fakenews we were never offered a fight with Leon as we already negotiated a title shot after the askren win. This is a desperate attempt. Yes Jorge next fight is for the title. as for “demands” it can’t be a demand if it was already agreed to before he fought askren. Thanks https://t.co/gwFdTe8gGC
— Ibrahim Kawa (@Abraham_kawa) August 8, 2019
Masvidal, a former bare knuckle fighter from the streets of Miami, Florida, was teased to challenge Usman for the title after his five-second highlight reel knockout of former ONE FC and Bellator welterweight champ Ben Askren at UFC 239. But, after Colby Covington’s dominant win over Robbie Lawler at UFC on ESPN 5 last weekend, Dana White confirmed that ‘Chaos’ — and not Masvidal — will get the next title shot.
If that is the case, and the UFC isn’t interested in pairing up Masvidal with McGregor, the 34-year-old will have no choice but to accept a fight against Edwards. It’s highly unlikely that White will allow Masvidal to sit out and face the winner of Usman vs. Covington, which is expected to take place later this year at Madison Square Garden, New York.