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Leon Edwards: Colby Covington Doesn’t Want To Work For Title Shot

Leon Edwards does not believe that Colby Covington is willing to earn another world title shot the hard way. This Saturday night at UFC Vegas 21, Leon Edwards will look to punch his ticket to the front of the welterweight contender’s line when he headl…

Leon Edwards Talks About ‘Weird Geezer’ Covington Refusing To Fight Him

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards was surprised when fellow 170lb title hopeful Colby Covington refused a fight with him. Edwards is set to end his lengthy layoff at UFC Vegas 21 this weekend. The Englishman was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event before the undefeated Swedish prospect fell out of the bout […]

UFC welterweight contender Leon Edwards was surprised when fellow 170lb title hopeful Colby Covington refused a fight with him.

Edwards is set to end his lengthy layoff at UFC Vegas 21 this weekend.

The Englishman was supposed to fight Khamzat Chimaev in the main event before the undefeated Swedish prospect fell out of the bout due to health issues relating to contracting COVID-19. He has since announced his retirement from the sport at just 26-years-old. Although many are hoping Chimaev will be able to recover and return to the sport in the near future.

UFC president Dana White publicly stated that he was trying to book Edwards against Covington on the same card exciting fight fans. However, ‘Chaos’ was quick to shut down the match-up as he continues to campaign for an immediate shot at welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.

During a recent interview with James Lynch of MMA News, Edwards commented on Covington “running” from a fight with him.

“I thought he would have stepped up,” Edwards said. “He talks a lot of shit in social media, when it’s time to fight real fighters he goes running to make excuses. I wasn’t shocked, really. It’s kind of his character, right? He doesn’t want to fight a top guy and want to sit on the sideline saying he wants a title shot and doesn’t want to work for a title shot. But it is what it is.”

‘Rocky’ later gave his thoughts on Covignton referring to him as “Leon Scott.”

“He is a weird man,” Edwards said. “He is like a weird, weird geezer. I don’t know.” (Transcribed by Essentially Sports)

Belal Muhammad is the man who eventually stepped up to fight Edwards on March 13. The #14 ranked welterweight is coming off an impressive victory over Dhiego Lima at UFC 258 which stretched his win streak to four.

Do you agree with Leon Edwards? Is Colby Covington running from the tough fights?

Kamaru Usman Blasts Covington For Refusing to Fight Edwards

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has let rip at his long-time rival and one-time opponent, Colby Covington, who recently turned down a fight with British standout Leon Edwards. ‘Rocky’ was looking for a new opponent after Khamzat Chimaev was forced out of their main event match-up scheduled for March 13. UFC president Dana White revealed […]

UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman has let rip at his long-time rival and one-time opponent, Colby Covington, who recently turned down a fight with British standout Leon Edwards.

‘Rocky’ was looking for a new opponent after Khamzat Chimaev was forced out of their main event match-up scheduled for March 13. UFC president Dana White revealed he was hoping Covington would step in but ‘Chaos’ had no interest in doing so and the spot ultimately was filled by Belal Muhammad.

‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ believes Covington made a big error by refusing to fight Edwards.

“I think he made a huge mistake, a tremendous mistake,” Usman told MMA Junkie. “Who turns down a paycheck? He turned down a paycheck. That’s horrible. You can’t do that. I mean, maybe he’s not hurting for money. But you can’t turn down a paycheck. Then on top of it, you turned down a chance to really remind the fans.

‘I understand, you’ve got to win. But that’s one win in how long? (Tyron) Woodley’s coming off a two-fight, three-fight skid. It’s a tough one to basically say, ‘Oh, all right, you’ve got one win. You’re back in.’ For a guy that’s coming off a two, three-fight skid, that was a tough one.”

Usman and Covington fought in a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 245 in December 2019. The champ retained his title with a gritty performance that resulted in a fifth round TKO win.

Since then Covington has picked up a win over former champ, Tyron Woodley and seems to believe he should be next in line for a title shot. Usman says had ‘Chaos’ beaten Edwards that might be the case. For now, he is intent on running things back with Jorge Masvidal.

“For you to sit here and demand, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve done enough. I demand a shot’ … First of all, you weren’t (the UFC’s) favorite in the first place,” Usman said. “You’re not. So you can’t sit here (and say that). It’s not that you’re selling mad pay-per-per views. You don’t really do that, as well. So for you to sit here and demand something like that, I think it’s ridiculous. I think the best way for you to solidify your title shot is to go out there and fight.

“And what better way than to knock off the No. 3 (ranked) guy? He’s on his way up. He’s making the claim to the throne that he deserves that shot. What better way than to knock him off? He failed to do that and I think he made a tremendous mistake.”

Do you want to see Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington II?

Leon Edwards Opens As Big Betting Favorite Over Belal Muhammad

Leon Edwards is unsurprisingly a big betting favorite over Belal Muhammad. Edwards was initially set to take on Khamzat Chimaev in a welterweight headliner on March 13. However, Chimaev had to pull out due to COVID-19 related issues as their fight was scrapped for the third time. Colby Covington was expected to fight Edwards on […]

Leon Edwards is unsurprisingly a big betting favorite over Belal Muhammad.

Edwards was initially set to take on Khamzat Chimaev in a welterweight headliner on March 13. However, Chimaev had to pull out due to COVID-19 related issues as their fight was scrapped for the third time.

Colby Covington was expected to fight Edwards on the card but didn’t seem to show any interest in the fight. In the end, Muhammad stepped up having only competed at UFC 258 this past weekend following an impressive unanimous decision win over Dhiego Lima.

But despite being on a four-fight winning streak, oddsmakers don’t have much confidence in Muhammad’s chances — especially on short notice.

BestFightOdds released opening odds for the fight and have Edwards as the -260 favorite. Muhammad, meanwhile, is a +200 underdog.

UFC Fight Night:
Belal Muhammad (+200)
Leon Edwards (-260)https://t.co/DoWeIqUOlG @Leon_edwardsmma

— BestFightOdds (@BestFightOdds) February 18, 2021

That means you would have to bet $260 to earn $100 on an Edwards win while a $100 bet on a Muhammad victory would earn $200.

Given where Edwards is in the rankings and the fighters that he has beaten, he was always going to be the favorite over Muhammad.

However, some may have expected him to be an even bigger favorite given the circumstances.

What do you think of these odds? Do they surprise you?

Report: Belal Muhammad to Fight Leon Edwards in UFC Main Event on March 13

Belal Muhammad will fight Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night 187 on March 13, according to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto . Muhammad replaces Khamzat Chimaev, who had to pull out due to lingering effects from his COVID-19 diagnosis…

Report – Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad Headlines UFC Vegas 21 On March 13

With the withdrawal of streaking prospect, Khamzat Chimaev due to lingering health issues amid a positive COVID-19 test result, the #3 ranked Leon Edwards is set to remain on the UFC Vegas 21 card — drawing recent UFC 258 victor, Belal Muhammad in a reworked main event on March 13. Forced from two outings against […]

Forced from two outings against Edwards this year already, Chimaev, who is expected to travel to Las Vegas to receive treatment and medicine for his lingering lung issues — was slated to match with the Birmingham native at UFC Fight Island 7 in January, but failed to gain medical clearance to compete or prepare for the fight.

Yet to feature since UFC Fight Night San Antonio in July of 2019 — Edwards notched his eighth consecutive triumph via a unanimous decision win over former lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos. Scheduled to headline a UFC Fight Night London card last March, the entire event was shelved amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, scrapping his tie with former champion, Tyron Woodley.

The victor of four on the trot, 32-year-old contender, Muhammad earned the #13 rank at 170-pounds via a one-sided unanimous judging win over Dhiego Lima last Saturday night at UFC 258 at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. News of the matchup was first penned by ESPN MMA reporter, Brett Okamoto.

On the cusp of a title shot at welterweight, Team Renegade BJJ & MMA staple, Edwards is undefeated in the UFC since December of 2015 — where he dropped a UFC Fight Night Orlando unanimous decision to current champion, Kamaru Usman.

Scoring eight victories since, the 29-year-old scored wins over Dominic Waters, Albert Tumenov, Vicente Luque, Bryan Barberena, Peter Sobotta, Donald Cerrone, and Gunnar Nelson, prior to his judging win over the above mentioned former 155-pound kingpin, dos Anjos.

Enjoying a certain purple-patch of form, Muhammad scores his first headlining bout under the UFC’s banner — hoping to notch his fifth straight success and knock back the streaking, Edwards.

A five-year, twelve-fight Octagon veteran, the Illinois native has amassed a 9-3 promotional résumé — dropping losses to common-foe, Luque, kickboxing talent, Geoff Neal, and Alan Jouban. As part of his current streak, Muhammad has bested Curtis Millender, Takashi Sato, Lyman Good, and the aforenoted, Lima.

Edwards was initially linked with a title-eliminator against former interim titleholder, Colby Covington, however, the brash Californian put and end to those talks — claiming he wouldn’t do “charity“ by accepting a short-notice bout against the #3 ranked contender.