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Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington provided fight fans with an entertaining Welterweight title fight last Saturday night (Dec. 14, 2019) in the main event of UFC 245. After 24 minutes of back-and-forth action, Usman was able to finish Covington in the final moments of the fight to retain his title (highlights).
And while fans were pleased with the output, as were the UFC brass who awarded both men an extra $50,000 for “Fight of the Night,” there are some who aren’t too impressed.
Among them is top 170-pound contender Leon Edwards, who was cageside soaking in all the action. While he is quick to say it was a good fight, being a fighter, he looks at it with different lenses, so watching two wrestlers trying to strike just wasn’t impressive to him.
“Being there watching the fight, I thought it was a good fight. It was 50/50 leading into the fifth round. Both men came out and did what the needed to do,” said Edwards during a recent interview on Ariel Helwan’s MMA Show.
“But being at the fight and watching it, it gave me more confidence that come 2020 I will be world champion. I will beat both of them guys,” he added while saying the striking simply wasn’t all that great.
“Not really,” said Leon when asked if he was impressed. “It was a striking match. Two wrestlers in a boxing match, so it’s hard to be impressed with two wrestlers in a boxing match. I feel like I got every tool to go out there and defeat these guys.”
Ranked No. 4, Edwards isn’t too far off to a title shot of his own, but will likely have to win one more fight before he gets there. That’s because Jorge Masvidal is the top contender to face Usman next, according to Dana White.
Edwards — whose last defeat came at the hands of Kamaru back in 2015 — can always play the waiting game, but since Usman just competed, that potential title fight won’t go down until late spring or early summer.
“Rocky” was linked to a showdown against Tyron Woodley at UFC 246 this coming January, but that fight is far from official. A win over “The Chosen One” would be just what the doctor ordered for Leon to punch his ticket to the big dance.
That said, if Usman wants to fight sooner and if Masvidal wants to chase a fight against one of the Diaz brothers or Conor McGregor instead of a title fight, it could give Leon the space to slide into the championship bout.