Leon Edwards wants the welterweight division to determine a true No. 1 contender as he takes time off to rest and heal some nagging injuries, expressing confusion over potential opponents receiving title shots without clear merit.
Leon Edwards is hoping the welterweight division can determine a true No. 1 contender as he takes time off to rest and heal some nagging injuries. Less than a month removed from his second consecutive win over Kamaru Usman, rumors have circulated about a potential fight against Colby Covington in July, possibly in London. As much as Edwards loved fighting at home in March at UFC 286, he stated that making a quick turnaround to defend his title in July is not feasible. This is why he’s looking at a return to action in the fall.
“July is 100 percent too soon,” Edwards told MMA Fighting on Thursday. “I fought in March, just under a month ago, and I’m still dealing with injuries and stuff that I had to deal with before I even consider getting back into a training camp. If I’m fighting in July, that means I’m going back into training camp next week, and that’s just not possible.” Edwards would like to fight in Abu Dhabi in October, citing there is no clear No. 1 contender in the welterweight division. He plans to sit back, talk to the UFC, and his team to see what’s best.
While UFC President Dana White has said Covington is next in line for a title shot, Edwards doesn’t understand how that makes any sense given the current landscape in the division. Covington hasn’t fought in over a year, with his most recent win coming in March 2022 against Jorge Masvidal, which put him at 2-2 in his past four fights. Edwards cannot see how that warrants a title shot without Covington at least getting one more win over another established contender like Gilbert Burns or Belal Muhammad. “It’s weird – I don’t know why he’s getting pushed so much,” Edwards said. “He’s coming off two losses to the guy that I just currently beat [in Kamaru Usman], and then went and beat a guy in Masvidal that’s just retired and now sat out for over a year. Turned down Gilbert [Burns], turned down Khamzat [Chimaev], turned down Belal [Muhammad] and then come back to a title shot? It’s weird. It’s something that I’ve never seen before.”
Edwards would ideally like to see Covington, Burns, or Muhammad get another win to set up his next title defense later this year. At that point, Edwards said he’ll have no complaints about an opponent, but he refuses to reward anybody for just sitting, waiting, and hoping for a shot at gold. “Instead of sitting around complaining, fight each other,” he said. “I don’t understand why you wouldn’t. If you truly believe you’re the No. 1 contender, you should want to fight these guys, to prove to everybody there’s no one in my way. It’s me next. For some reason these guys want to sit out, complain, moan about the title shot without fighting. I had to do 10 in a row to get my title shot. These guys are coming off one win, one loss, one win, one loss and demanding title shots. For sure, I feel like they should fight each other. Either Colby vs. Belal or Burns vs. Colby, however they want to do it. Whoever wins, that’s me next.”