Edwards is speaking out after a violent incident backstage that saw Masvidal attack him with a vicious combo.
Another UFC event, another violent confrontation outside the cage. This time it was Jorge Masvidal confronting Leon Edwards for sayin’ something backstage, and videos of Masvidal unloading ‘a three piece with soda’ on Edwards are now all over the MMA interwebs.
Edwards suffered a cut under his eye from the exchange, but doesn’t seem too bothered about the whole thing. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, Leon refuses to go the Colby Covington route by pressing charges. Instead he seemed to imply street justice may continue to play a role in their futures.
”And Jorge, fair play sneaking your shots in when you could, but now you’re f**ked,” Edwards wrote on Instagram. “If security wasn’t there you wouldn’t have made it back to the US, I’ll see you soon.”
Sadly, the scuffle between Leon and Jorge has given Edwards way more press than he’s earned across his seven (seven!) fight win streak at welterweight. These are the lessons being learned by other fighters watching all this, and Dana White is going to have his hands full trying to keep his roster from sparking violent incidents if they keep getting rewarded with more attention and financially lucrative grudge matches.
Still, Leon does deserve a big fight after his performance over Gunnar Nelson on Saturday. Here’s what he had to say about the win.
”Very happy with my performance last night against a very high caliber opponent in Gunnar Nelson,” he wrote on Instagram. “Much respect to you Gunnar that was a great fight and look forward to seeing you bounce back. Thanks to my team, friends, family and the fans for everything. Birmingham stand up! As I said – that’s 7 in a row in the hardest division in the sport and I’m coming for everyone. World champ 2019 mark my words. If you’re not with me now, you will be.”
What should be next for Leon, and would it be a horrible precedent to set if the UFC booked him against Masvidal?