Calling his shot at undisputed welterweight champion, Leon Edwards following his win at UFC 296 over the course of last weekend, lightweight titleholder, Islam Makhachev has been picked to “expose” the Birmingham native by former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo if they ever share the Octagon in the future.
Cejudo, a former undisputed flyweight and bantamweight champion under the banner of the promotion, is slated to make his return to the Octagon at UFC 298 in February, taking on Merab Dvalishvili.
As for Edwards, the UK fighter headlined UFC 296 over the course of the weekend, handing fierce rival, Colby Covington a one-sided unanimous decision loss in the pair’s long-awaited grudge match.
For Makhachev, the Russian standout defended his lightweight title at UFC 294 back in October in a devastating first round win over Alexander Volkanovski, stopping the Australian with a hellacious first round high kick knockout win.
And staking his claim for a shot at Edwards off the back of his win at UFC 296, Makhachev called for a change in guard at the welterweight limit in the immediate aftermath of the flagship event.
“Leon (Edwards) has to be next,” Islam Makhachev said. “And also, this fight [Edwards vs. Covington} was bullsh*t, man. You have to change the champion.”
Islam Makhachev backed to beat Leon Edwards
And receiving backing from the above-mentioned, Cejudo, who has turned coach for a host of UFC champions and leading contenders, Makhachev would handily “expose” Edwards in a future clash.
“This is where I feel like a guy like Islam (Makhachev) is going to expose him (Leon Edwards) because he does fight everybody the same” Henry Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “We saw it with guys likes Israel Adesanya, we saw it with guys that are just pretty much one-dimensional. The guys who are the hardest guys to fight are the guys that have other weapons other than just striking.”
“He’s got everything to lose,” Cejudo said. “He’s already talking about going up and fighting Sean Strickland. These guys are probably avoiding a guy like Islam Makhachev.”
Who wins in a future title fight: Leon Edwards or Islam Makhachev?