Jorge Masvidal is not liking how his backstage brawl with Leon Edwards is overshadowing his knockout win over Darren Till.
UFC welterweight contender Jorge Masvidal was involved in two fistfights on Saturday night. The first one ended emphatically with a knockout victory over Darren Till, while the second one took place backstage against fellow 170-pounder Leon Edwards.
The latter incident immediately went viral, which according to Masvidal, was because of self-defense. On Monday’s episode of Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN, “Gamebred” says he is not liking how the incident is seemingly overshadowing his win over Till.
“I’m sure (Edwards) is going to come back with a million corny quotes, but just stop, bro, nobody is buying into your act,” Masvidal said (transcript by MMA Mania). “You are disrespectful, you go up in my interview, I’m not talking about this guy, not even mentioning him in any shape or form. But, this moron tries to come in on my interview and punk me, and I am not going to let that happen.
“And now it pisses me off that it gets more attention than the Till fight when he doesn’t deserve a click. He doesn’t deserve a view, anything. I know they love the drama, but it’s taking away from my performance.
“So if you are my fan, speak about my performance fighting No. 3 in the world, not some dude that nobody knows backstage,” he added. “Who is that guy? I’m making this dude famous. We spent 70-percent of my interview talking about some bum.”
Masvidal already told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he still would’ve reacted the same way after some time of mulling it over. He maintains the same stance, but now wishes it did not get more attention over his performance.
“It’s not that I wish I didn’t do it, I just wish it wouldn’t get more attention than what I actually love to do, which is fight, you know?” he said. “I got upset because I’m just tired of this individual disrespecting me already. Then he goes in on my interview and does this. Enough.”
Edwards, who served as a co-headliner at UFC London, already issued a stern warning to Masvidal via Instagram.