Tag: leon edwards

Leon Edwards Claims Jorge Masvidal Is Turning Down Fight With Him

Jorge Masvidal is sticking to his guns. “Gamebred” has no interest in fighting Leon Edwards, and wants instead a meeting against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman or Conor McGregor. However, that puts Masvidal in a difficult situation. Colby Covington has emerged as the frontrunner to face Kamaru Usman for the 170-pound title. After his win over […]

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Jorge Masvidal is sticking to his guns. “Gamebred” has no interest in fighting Leon Edwards, and wants instead a meeting against welterweight champion Kamaru Usman or Conor McGregor.

However, that puts Masvidal in a difficult situation. Colby Covington has emerged as the frontrunner to face Kamaru Usman for the 170-pound title. After his win over Robbie Lawler this past weekend, Dana White has confirmed “Chaos” will receive the next title shot. As for McGregor, his Octagon return remains up in the air, and White has already shot down a potential fight between the Irishman and Masvidal.

With that being said, Edwards wants his shot at “Gamebred.” Speaking to MMA Junkie, however, the Englishman reveals Masvidal has already turned the fight down.

“The only fight that makes sense now is me and Masvidal, and that’s the fight that I want,” Edwards said. “I spoke to the UFC. They want the fight. I want the fight. But Masvidal is turning the fight down. They say he doesn’t want the fight, so I don’t know. I’m just here.

“I’ll be ready to go at the end of the year and hopefully get one of those fights. They’re saying Masvidal said no, he doesn’t want the fight. He’s trying to outbid himself, saying he wants a stupid amount of money to fight. So I’m ready to go. I’m just waiting to see what happens, and so I’m looking forward to it. Hopefully we get the fight done.”

As far as Masvidal demanding fights between either McGregor or Usman, Edwards doesn’t see how the Miami native holds such leverage. He’s 2-2 in his last fights, but his two victories have been back-to-back vicious knockout wins over fellow elites Darren Till and Ben Askren.

“I just don’t see where he gets the nerve to be demanding, making demands on what he wants,” Edwards said.

“He’s 2-2 in his last four fights and I’m 8-0 in my last eight fights, second most to the champion. So I feel I should be ahead of him, anyway, in the title-shot contention. But I’m still willing to put my 8-0 up against his 2-2 to prove who’s the No. 1.”

What do you think about Edwards claiming Masvidal turned down a fight with him?

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Leon Edwards Claims Jorge Masvidal Turned Down UFC Fight Offer

Leon Edwards is ready to throw down, but he says Jorge Masvidal has other plans. Edwards and Masvidal aren’t likely to exchange Christmas cards later this year. Back in March, the two were involved in a backstage incident post-UFC London. Masvida…

Leon Edwards is ready to throw down, but he says Jorge Masvidal has other plans. Edwards and Masvidal aren’t likely to exchange Christmas cards later this year. Back in March, the two were involved in a backstage incident post-UFC London. Masvidal’s post-fight interview with Laura Sanko was interrupted when he exchanged words with Edwards. The […]

The post Leon Edwards Claims Jorge Masvidal Turned Down UFC Fight Offer appeared first on MMA News.

Kamaru Usman Names Darkhorse In Welterweight Title Race

Many expect Kamaru Usman’s first title defense to be against Colby Covington. That includes UFC president, Dana White who confirmed that after “Chaos” had beaten Robbie Lawler he would be next. Yet, there are still other contenders like Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards, and the rematch of Tyron Woodley. With no contracts signed, nothing is official […]

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Many expect Kamaru Usman’s first title defense to be against Colby Covington. That includes UFC president, Dana White who confirmed that after “Chaos” had beaten Robbie Lawler he would be next.

Yet, there are still other contenders like Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards, and the rematch of Tyron Woodley. With no contracts signed, nothing is official and Usman says the Englishman is a dark horse to get the next title shot.

“I would think so, but this is one thing that I’ve learned over the years, is that until it’s finally signed by both parties and hey, that’s gonna happen, nothing’s official yet,” Kamaru Usman said to Chael Sonnen on his podcast (as transcribed by BJPENN.com). “Because they’ve said time and time again, ‘Hey, this guy’s next and it didn’t happen. That guy’s next, and it didn’t happen. So, you know, I would like to think it’s between those three. But, I would say more a dark horse is Leon Edwards, who just kind of thrust himself into the mix. So, I would give it a four-man circus right now going on.”

Edwards is on an eight-fight winning streak with notable wins over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, Vicente Luque, and Rafael dos Anjos. Yet, many think the Englishman should fight Jorge Masvidal while Covington fights Usman.

Regardless, Covington has said Usman has been ducking him for a long time, and after this interview, it will be interesting to see what he says now. But, White did promise “Chaos” a title shot, so all signs point to that being next.

Who do you think should be Kamaru Usman’s first title defense?

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Leon Edwards Focused on Title, Not Jorge Masvidal

From the moment he ingested a three piece and a soda from acclaimed chef Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards has made it a point of placing Masvidal at the top of his hit list. But that doesn’t mean he is at the top of Edwards’ wish list. That honor would fal…

From the moment he ingested a three piece and a soda from acclaimed chef Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards has made it a point of placing Masvidal at the top of his hit list. But that doesn’t mean he is at the top of Edwards’ wish list. That honor would fall to whomever is the world […]

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Leon Edwards Claims Kamaru Usman & Jorge Masvidal Are The Only Two Fights For Him

Leon Edwards has his eyes set on Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman after his dominant win over Rafael dos Anjos. For the Englishman, it was the kind of performance that results in title shot talks. And, with him now being on an eight-fight winning streak, he is just ecstatic. “I’m very happy,” Edwards said to […]

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Leon Edwards has his eyes set on Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman after his dominant win over Rafael dos Anjos.

For the Englishman, it was the kind of performance that results in title shot talks. And, with him now being on an eight-fight winning streak, he is just ecstatic.

“I’m very happy,” Edwards said to MMA Junkie. “It felt great to go out there and outclass a former world champion in RDA in the way I did it. I’m on an eight-fight win streak now, second-most to the current champion, so it feels good.

“Now they’re seeing my work and seeing how good I am. I’m proving to the world that I am one of the best fighters, especially coming out of the U.K.”

Being the next star from the U.K. is something Leon Edwards wants. The only UFC champion for England is Michael Bisping. But, Edwards expects himself to become the second very soon.

He is also hoping his recent run will encourage others to get into the sport.

“It’s amazing,” Edwards said. “It’s one of my aims to do it from the UK and prove to the kids that are coming up behind me that you can also be the best in the world coming up through the UK. I’ve grown up being told we had to go to America, Brazil, wherever in order to get the training because we can’t wrestle, we can’t grapple, blah, blah, blah.

“But we’ve got great talent here in the UK. There are great fighters and great coaching staff here. So it feels amazing to do it all from my hometown, coming from Birmingham and seeing all the kids following my footsteps into MMA. It’s amazing to see.”

Regardless of that, Leon Edwards is now ranked in the top-five. And, he either wants to fight, rival Jorge Masvidal next or fight Kamaru Usman for the belt. Those, he says are his only options.

“For me, the two fights to make are Usman and ‘The Weasel.’ There’s no other fights for me, really,” Edwards said.

“I haven’t heard much from the UFC since Saturday,” he admitted. “I know Dana came out and said he liked the me and Jorge Masvidal fight. That’s all I’ve heard. I think they’ll try to push for that fight, and hopefully we’ll get that done.”

Who do you think Leon Edwards should fight next?

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UFC San Antonio Draws Nearly A Million Viewers

UFC on ESPN 4, aka UFC San Antonio, went down last Saturday from the AT&T Center. Even with the card going against the likes of Caleb Plant vs. Mike Lee, Keith Thurman vs. Manny Pacquiao on pay-per-view, the card nearly drew a million viewers. According to MMAFighting.com, UFC San Antonio averaged 957,000 viewers, while Plant […]

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UFC on ESPN 4, aka UFC San Antonio, went down last Saturday from the AT&T Center. Even with the card going against the likes of Caleb Plant vs. Mike Lee, Keith Thurman vs. Manny Pacquiao on pay-per-view, the card nearly drew a million viewers.

According to MMAFighting.com, UFC San Antonio averaged 957,000 viewers, while Plant vs. Lee averaged 923,000 viewers. Viewership for the card peaked at the main event with 1,160,000 viewers. No other sporting event was able to match UFC San Antonio in the time slot.

The main event saw a pivotal welterweight fight between Leon Edwards and Rafael dos Anjos. There, it was the Englishman who was able to get it done as he dominated the fight from start to finish and even won all five rounds on one judge’s scorecard.

Also on the card was a heavyweight fight between former NFL pro-bowler, Greg Hardy taking on Juan Adams which was a highly anticipated fight. Many fans thought Adams would be the one to stop Hardy, yet it was the former NFL star who won in just 46 seconds by TKO. The main card also saw the likes of Dan Hooker knocking out James Vick, Walt Harris knocking out Alexey Oleynik, and decision wins over Alexander Hernandez and Andrei Arlovski over Francisco Trinaldso, and Ben Rothwell, respectively.

The next big ESPN show is set for August 3 where an even more intriguing welterweight bout between Colby Covington and Robbie Lawler headlines it.

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