Six months removed from Leon Edwards‘ unanimous decision victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 286, we still have no official announcement for when ‘Rocky’ will return to defend the welterweight world title.
Since March, we’ve known that Leon Edwards‘ next opponent would likely be No. 2 ranked contender Colby Covington. UFC President Dana White said as much during the UFC 286 post-fight press event and then proceeded to reiterate his intentions of booking the fight after virtually everyone questioned the logic of giving Covington his third title opportunity after going 2-2 in his last four fights.
In the aftermath of the announcement, ‘Chaos’ has slammed Leon Edwards repeatedly, suggesting that the British-born titleholder was ducking the fight. ‘Rocky’ has done little to refute those claims, but according to the champ’s manager, Tim Simpson, the welterweight title tilt will go down before the end of the year.
“It’ll be before the end of the year,” said Simpson, confirming that Edwards vs. Covington is the next UFC welterweight title fight during a conversation with Submission Radio. “I guess the two cards left are November and December and they’re still finalizing those. Leon is good. He is ready to go. From my understanding, Colby is ready to go as well.”
Tim Simpson reveals at one point the UFC considered Edwards/Covington for #UFC293, confirms fight should fall on November or December card!
: https://t.co/Tgck9Idq1h pic.twitter.com/o9a83kerC6
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) September 8, 2023
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Leon Edwards is currently riding an 11-fight win streak dating back to 2016, including wins over Vicente Luque, Bryan Barberena, Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, Rafael dos Anjos, Nate Diaz, and Kamaru Usman in back-to-back meetings.
For comparison, Colby Covington is 3-2 in his last five fights with all of his wins coming against fighters who are no longer on the UFC roster. Both of Covington’s losses came in title fights against then-champion Kamaru Usman. Prior to that, ‘Chaos’ rattled off seven-straight wins en route to his first UFC title opportunity.
Will the third time be the charm for Covington this winter, or will ‘Chaos’ once again be relegated to the role of gatekeeper in the welterweight division?
Transcription courtesy of BloodyElbow.com