UFC welterweight rivals Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards will finally settle their beef in the octagon, as the two top welterweight contenders are targeted to faceoff at UFC 269 later this year, according to reports from Ariel Helwani and ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Masvidal is coming off of back-to-back losses to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman but is still hoping to get back in the title picture. Edwards was expected to be next in line for the title shot but will take a fight with Masvidal in the meantime.
The Masvidal vs. Edwards fight will take place just weeks after the Usman vs. Colby Covington title rematch at UFC 268. The winner, especially if Edwards comes out victorious, could get the next shot at the welterweight belt.
Masvidal and Edwards have quite a history with each other. Back in early 2019, the two got into a well-known verbal altercation that turned physical following a UFC card in London. This created the ‘three-piece and a soda’ moniker that Masvidal has thrived on ever since with the UFC fanbase.
It was originally expected that the Masvidal vs. Edwards fight talks had ended after Edwards recently posted a number of tweets seeming disinterested in a fight with Masvidal. This has changed in recent days and the two appear set on a collision course for the last UFC pay-per-view of 2021.
The fight will take place over three rounds and is on the same card as the women’s bantamweight title bout between Amanda Nunes and Julianna Pena. It will definitely be considered by some UFC fans as the ‘people’s main event’, similar to that of Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler at UFC 266. The flyweight title between Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo is expected to shift to the UFC 270 card to make way for Masvidal and Edwards.
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