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Leon Edwards doesn’t want to wear a MAGA hat for publicity.
Surging UFC welterweight Leon Edwards recently came under fire from Chael Sonnen following failed online negotiations with Jorge Masvidal.
‘The American Gangster’ said Edwards ‘does everything right except make himself interesting’, but Edwards doesn’t want to ‘make himself interesting’ at the cost of his reputation.
Speaking to Submission Radio in a recent interview, ‘Rocky’ explained that it simply isn’t in his nature to act like a ‘clown’ for publicity.
“It’s never about the skills, right? It’s always about [that] I need to basically be a clown,” Edwards said to Submission Radio (h/t BJPENN.com). “It’s not me. I can’t like put on a MAGA hat and pretend. I know what he’s saying, [that] I need to do more for promotion-wise, cause it’s the entertainment business at the end of the day. So, I do understand where he’s coming from. But that was Chael. He talks his way into big opportunities back in the day, fought Anderson Silva and things like that. So, it is what it is. Like he said, I didn’t take much from it. I hear what he said and it is what it is.”
Edwards got into a backstage scuffle with Masvidal in London in 2019 but, despite his best efforts at trash talk, the Brit hasn’t come close to securing a grudge match with the UFC BMF champ.
Edwards hasn’t fought since his dominant unanimous decision win over Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4 last year. The Brit is on an eight-fight win streak and currently #3 in the UFC welterweight rankings.