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“Masvidal will have nowhere to run then, he’ll have to fight me for the number one contender spot and we can go from there.”
British welterweight Leon Edwards is rooting for Colby Covington to beat Robbie Lawler later this evening at UFC on ESPN 5, and his reasoning is simple: If ‘Chaos’ wins, the UFC is more likely to book a grudge match between himself and Jorge Masvidal.
Edwards, who is on an impressive eight-fight win streak, has been calling for a fight with Masvidal ever since their highly controversial backstage altercation at UFC London, where ‘Gamebred’ blasted ‘Rocky’ with a three-punch combination after being interrupted during his post-fight interview.
“It’s definitely better for me if Colby wins because they’ll probably give the title shot to him. Masvidal will have nowhere to run then, he’ll have to fight me for the number one contender spot and we can go from there,” Edwards said on a recent edition of MMA Fighting’s Eurobash podcast.
Edwards, who surged into the UFC’s official top-five welterweight rankings following his unanimous decision win over former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4, is also angling for a title shot against Kamaru Usman.
“But I also want to fight Usman,” he said. “I wouldn’t want that to happen, Colby beating Usman, because then that fight would be gone for me. I want to get all of those fights in; I don’t want any of them to get away from me. I want that weasel [Masvidal] and I want that rematch with Usman.”
“My focus is to be a world champion. My focus isn’t on Masvidal, it’s to be a world champion. If I could get a title shot before I fought Masvidal that would be perfect. I’ll beat Usman and then I’ll beat Masvidal. If they’re not giving me that and they want to give me Masvidal first instead, that’s another perfect situation.
That would open me up to an even bigger audience, I’d get to school the weasel and then get my title shot against Usman. Either or, I do not give a sh*t. I’m ready to go, I’m one of the best fighters in the world and proved it time and time again.”
UFC on ESPN 5: Covington vs. Lawler takes place tonight, August 3 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.