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It was recently reported that top Welterweight contender Leon Edwards was removed from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) rankings due to inactivity. At the time of removal, “Rocky” was ranked No. 3 in the world.
While Edwards hasn’t competed since July of 2019, he was in line to return this past March against Tyron Woodley before COVID-19 prompted the promotion to go on a two-month hiatus. So you can’t really blame Edwards for a world-wide pandemic.
According to one report, the reason Edwards was bounced from the official UFC rankings had to do with him rejecting fight after fight once UFC got the wheels rolling again. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, among the fights “Rocky” reportedly turned down were against Geoff Neal and Khamzat Chimaev.
“After the Woodley fight fell through in March, the next offer came on short notice to fight Usman in July, then Covington when Woodley fight was iffy, then Geoff Neal and then Khamzat Chimaev on 12/19. Edwards didn’t agree to those fights,” writes Helwani on Twitter.
Now, Edwards is responding to his removal from the rankings, as well as issuing a challenge to Chimaev.
“I’m still in the rankings. Fuck all the inactivity, the only reason I haven’t fought is because all these so called top guys turned me down. Khamzat want to fight then?” he wrote on Twitter.
Edwards isn’t the only man to have allegedly turn down a fight against Chimaev, as Chris Weidman and Stephen Thompson reportedly also shut down UFC matchmakers when “Borz” was presented as an option. Weidman, however, competed last August and said he’d be willing to fight Chimaev in January.
And while Thompson hasn’t fought since November of 2019, he actually called for a fight against Edwards just last month. “Rocky,” however, shut that down as well, though it’s unclear if UFC ever actually officially offered him the fight. Nevertheless, it seems Edwards does indeed want the fight against Chimaev and vice versa, as Khamzat offered a quick response.
I’m always ready to fight. Let’s go. Rock’n’roll baby
— Khamzat Chimaev (@KChimaev) October 22, 2020
Since a couple of UFC’s cards in December could use a little bolstering, it only makes sense for the promotion to book this 170-pound scrap now…right?