Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Leon Edwards is no longer the #3 ranked welterweight in the world after COVID-19 and pickiness kept him out of the cage for 21 months.
Depending on who you ask, the official UFC rankings either mean nothing or everything. Some fighters insist they’re meaningless, others point to their value as a negotiating tool for more money or better fights. There’s been a big trend lately towards some UFC athletes refusing to ‘fight down’ aka take opponents ranked lower than themselves. Which may seem like a good idea … but only when implemented correctly.
At this point we think it’s safe to say #3 ranked UFC welterweight Leon Edwards has not pulled this off correctly.
Or should we say formerly #3 ranked UFC welterweight Leon Edwards, because he’s now officially been pulled from the rankings all together due to ‘inactivity.’
Leon Edwards confirms to me over text he has been removed from the UFC rankings due to inactivity. #UFC
— Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91) October 22, 2020
Edwards’ last fight was a win over Rafael Dos Anjos back in July of 2019. He was scheduled to face Tyron Woodley in March of 2020, but that fight was cancelled as the Coronavirus locked down borders around the world. Since then the UFC has reportedly offered him a number of opponents, none of which were satisfying enough for “Rocky” to accept.
The most recent was Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, ranked #5. Leon replied “Fighting you right now does nothing for me.”
I may be new to this but it’s definitely me…my tweet game is better than I though lol. Whelp I guess the gym is where you’ll be “staying”! Like you said “nobody” wants to fight you…except me but that ain’t good enough for ya. Maybe we’ll see you in 2021! #StruckANerve pic.twitter.com/fE47uNewd7
— Stephen Thompson (@WonderboyMMA) October 6, 2020
Thompson seems to have called it right: that bold strategy didn’t pay off for Edwards.
As far as how rankings and inactivity goes, there’s no hard line as to when the UFC yanks a fighter from the listings due to inactivity. The general rule of thumb seems to be one year without a fight. But fighters like Jon Jones, Dominick Cruz, Anderson Silva, and Conor McGregor have all survived much longer lulls in activity without being removed from the rankings.
Most recently, Brian Ortega went 22 months between his loss to Max Holloway at UFC 231 and his win over The Korean Zombie at UFC Fight Island 6 without dropping his #2 featherweight spot.
So let’s be clear: removing fighters from the rankings due to inactivity is absolutely at the UFC’s discretion. Is it really fair to Leon Edwards to have his #3 ranking removed when he was days away from competing in March, seven months ago? Or is 21 months just too long to sit out while healthy and turning down opponents?