UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards is open to a future fight with Islam Makhachev but believes both fighters need to first address their respective divisional challenges.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards sees a fight with Islam Makhachev as a potential right matchup — just not right now.
Following his fifth-round submission win over Dustin Poirier in the main event, Makhachev called for a shot at the welterweight championship. This title will be contested between Edwards and Belal Muhammad in the main event of July’s UFC 304 event. “Rocky” responded to the callout, and while he likes the idea of the challenge, he believes both have plenty of hurdles to clear first.
“I welcome it,” Edwards told Sky Sports. “I feel like we both have work to do within our [divisions]. … He just fought his first lightweight, actual lightweight — first defense against an actual lightweight — so I feel like he has a few more lightweights to go through first before he can think about moving up.
“But if we both go on this [long] reign, then why not? We can run it in the future. We’re both similar age, 30 years old, so we’ll have time to get it done, for sure.”
Edwards looks to defend his title for the third time when he meets Muhammad in a rematch after their first meeting ended in a no contest following an accidental eye poke. In his most recent outing, Edwards picked up a lopsided decision win over Colby Covington at UFC 296 this past December.
If successful in his upcoming fight, Edwards will likely have the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov waiting in the wings. Meanwhile, Makhachev has a No. 1 contender in Arman Tsarukyan waiting for a shot at the lightweight belt. Edwards wants to clear out the contenders before he, himself, moves up, or allows the lightweight champ to move up.
“It’s a massive fight,” Edwards said. “I feel like I’ve still got work to do within my division first, then the superfights will come.”