Leon Edwards is expected to be next in line for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. However, former three-time UFC title challenger, Chael Sonnen is hearing otherwise.
After expressing his interest in challenging Usman, Conor McGregor has “entered the chat,” as they say. That’s according to Sonnen’s sources, anyway.
“I am being told that Leon has been offered his show and his win [money], whatever was negotiated for Leon to fight Kamaru is being offered to him,” Sonnen said on his YouTube channel (h/t The Mirror). “‘We will mail you a cheque to step aside. We have the right to push you aside, we don’t want any hard feelings and we acknowledge that you deserve this. So, we are going to send you what you agreed on and you get to stay home.’ With the belief being that Conor’s going to step in.”
No date has been set for the expected rematch between Usman and Edwards, but both fighters have discussed the likelihood of it coming during the summer. After hearing the claims from Sonnen, “Rocky” wasn’t amused.
“chael what the f*ck you on about,” Edwards tweeted in response to the claims with several crying laughing emojis.
Despite his willingness to share the rumblings, Sonnen himself isn’t fully sold on the notion that McGregor steals the opportunity.
“I don’t believe this rumor by the way, I’m just sharing with you anytime you don’t have something locked up… Leon [vs Kamaru] is not done,” Sonnen said. “There are some real moving parts there, quite frankly I don’t know if we are going to see Kamaru Usman fight in two years from now.”
McGregor last fought in July 2021 at UFC 264 when attempting to rebound in his trilogy with Dustin Poirier, who defeated him earlier in the year via second-round knockout (watch highlights). This recent time around, McGregor suffered a first-round technical knockout loss after breaking in the closing moments of the round (watch highlights).
Edwards, on the other hand, hasn’t tasted defeat since his last encounter with Usman in Dec. 2015. He’s 9-0 (1 no contest) since.