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It’s been a good year for Jorge Masvidal. After toiling in relative obscurity for years and dropping two fights in a row to Demian Maia and Stephen Thompson in 2017, Masvidal returned in 2019 to knock out Darren Till and Ben Askren in highlight reel fashion.
But Masvidal may be trying to pull too much leverage out of those wins. Reports have him demanding a title shot or Conor McGregor. UFC president Dana White has responded “You can’t make ultimatums.”
White wants to put Masvidal against Leon Edwards, which makes a lot of sense since they’re the two top dogs after Colby Covington, who gets next against welterweight champ Kamaru Usman. Beyond the actual rankings, Masvidal and Edwards also have beef that stems from a backstage dustup at UFC London following Jorge’s KO of Darren Till. Edwards approached “Gamebred” and got ‘a three piece and soda’ for his trouble.
But Masvidal is less interested in doing it again in the cage, according to Edwards.
“The only fight that makes sense now is me and Masvidal,” Edwards told MMA Junkie in a new interview. “And that’s the fight that I want. 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.”
“They’re saying Masvidal said no, he doesn’t want the fight. He’s trying to outbid himself, saying he wants a stupid amount of money to fight. So I’m ready to go. I’m just waiting to see what happens, and so I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we get the fight done.”
And while Masvidal undoubtedly has the hype behind him after his recent high profile wins, Leon Edwards would like to remind everyone he’s been consistently winning for much longer.
“I just don’t see where he gets the nerve to be demanding, making demands on what he wants,” Edwards said. “He’s 2-2 in his last four fights and I’m 8-0 in my last eight fights, second most to the champion. So I feel I should be ahead of him anyway in the title-shot contention. But I’m still willing to put my 8-0 up against his 2-2 to prove who’s the No. 1.”
Here’s hoping the UFC can get Masvidal to see reason and take the fight.