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Leon Edwards doesn’t think top welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal is deserving of a title shot.
Although nothing has been confirmed, it’s expected that top-three contender Jorge Masvidal will go on to challenge Kamaru Usman for the welterweight title sometime later this year.
Masvidal, who has undergone somewhat of a career resurgence this past year, is currently one of the most talked about fighters on the UFC roster due to his back-to-back knockout wins over Darren Till and Ben Askren. ‘Gamebred’ KO’d the latter in record-breaking time at UFC 239, finishing ‘Funky’ with a flying knee just five seconds into the opening round.
Top-fifteen ranked welterweight Leon Edwards, however, who got into a backstage scuffle with Masvidal at London’s O2 Arena this past March, can’t understand the hype.
“It’s madness, really. I don’t know where all of this title talk is coming from,” Edwards told MMA Fighting’s Peter Carroll in a recent interview. “Just two fights ago he was on a two-fight losing streak, he was probably gonna get cut from the UFC. I think the title talk is nonsense. It’s madness, but f*ck it, it is what it is.”
Edwards, who is scheduled to take on former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos this weekend at UFC on ESPN 4, went on to challenge Masvidal to a street fight in the park.
“I’d be happy with a straightener [fist fight] in the park. Bring him over to Texas and we can get it straight after the fight. We need to fight.”
UFC on ESPN 4, which features dos Anjos vs. Edwards as the main event, takes place this Saturday, July 20 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas.