In the wake of the recent retirement of former welterweight title challenger, Jorge Masvidal, current division kingpin, Leon Edwards admits he regrets missing the opportunity to face his bitter rival under the banner of the UFC.
Edwards, the current undisputed welterweight champion, most recently headlined UFC 286 back in March of this year, successfully defending his crown in a close, majority decision win over common-foe, Kamaru Usman.
Winning the undisputed welterweight title back in August of last year in a stunning knockout win at UFC 278, Edwards rallied with a fifth round stoppage of Usman – flattening the Auchi native with a stunning final round high-kick KO.
As for Masvidal, the two time title challenger, bowed out of active competition back in April following a fourth consecutive Octagon defeat, dropping a rather comprehensive unanimous decision loss against one-time title challenger, Gilbert Burns.
Forever on a collision course with Birmingham native, Edwards, Masvidal kicked off his rivalry with the former back in March 2019, landing multiple strikes on Edwards during a post-UFC London altercation backstage.
Set to face-off at UFC 269 in December 2021, Edwards saw his clash with the Miami native fall to the wayside just weeks out, with Masvidal withdrawing from the bout due to an undisclosed injury.
Leon Edwards admits a clash with Jorge Masvidal is one that got away from him
And in the wake of Masvidal’s retirement from mixed martial arts, Edwards claimed that pairing was one that ultimately got away from him.
“That’s the one that got away,” Leon Edwards said of a fight with Jorge Masvidal during an interview with MMA Fighting. “That’s the one I wished happened, the one that fans wished happened, everyone wished that fight happened. For some reason, the UFC didn’t want to make it or tried making it and (Jorge) Masvidal turned it down. That’s the fight that definitely got away for sure.”
“I wanted to put a beating on him,” Leon Edwards explained. “Looking like that or whatever he looked like, ever after (Ben) Askren, I just wanted to put a whooping on him and that was it. Whether it was the best Jorge or not, technically he’s just not as good as me. He’s not better than me. I just wanted to put a beating on him, but sadly I won’t get the chance in the Octagon.”