‘3 Piece And A Soda Time’

There’s unfinished business between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards, and both men want to settle it in the UK.

The entire landscape of the UFC welterweight division changed on Saturday night after Leon Edwards knocked out dominant champion Kamaru Usman with a headkick in the final minute of their UFC 278 fight (watch the KO finish here).

Usman hadn’t just beaten some of the best contenders at 170 pounds, he beat them twice. Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal had no route back to title contendership so long as “The Nigerian Nightmare” held the title. So it’s not surprising that Masvidal was excited to see “Rocky” switch things up.

Masvidal and Edwards have history from a UFC London card in March 2019. Masvidal had just knocked out Darren Till in the main event, while Edwards decisioned Gunnar Nelson in the co-main. The two victorious fighters had an altercation backstage that resulted in Masvidal swinging on Edwards, hitting him with what “Gamebred” coined ‘the three-piece and soda.’

Masvidal brought the saying back in his callout of the new welterweight champion, writing on Instagram “I heard we going to London again.”

Masvidal’s agent Malki Kawa added “3 piece and a soda time. Yes we except [sic] Leon Edwards.”

But do Leon Edwards and the UFC accept Jorge Masvidal? Leading up to UFC 278, Edwards told talkSPORT “I’ll give the bum the opportunity to come fight for the title just to show everyone how s— he is.” At the post-fight press conference, Usman was a bit more measured.

“Jorge would be good, but he needs to go get a win, you know? Having him in the UK would be good. Back where the first incident happened. But if not, let’s run it back in Wembley with Kamaru. Like I said, that was the best he had to offer, and that was the worst I had to offer, and I still got the finish. Let them all come, they’re calling me out, first they doubted me, now they’re calling me out.”

Jorge Masvidal is on a three fight losing streak, but not all losses are created equal. “Gamebred’s” three losses come to Kamaru Usman twice and Colby Covington, fighters at the absolute top of the division. Given Jorge’s popularity and the history with Leon, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the UFC grant him a title shot.

However, first things first. UFC president Dana White wants an immediate rematch between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.

“How do you not? Yeah [I want to do it in the UK],” White said at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference. “I don’t think [Leon would] have to sit and wait anyway. He wouldn’t have to wait that long. He’d have to go back into camp and start training anyway. First of all, we’d have to have the date. I think we’re booked up into January now.”

For complete UFC 278 results and coverage click here.