Leon Edwards is already planning his first title defense after he wins the UFC welterweight title, and he wants it to be against an old foe: Jorge Masvidal.
“I thought, you little p****,” Edwards told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour when discussing Masvidal pulling out of their planned fight for UFC 269. “I don’t know that he would have done it anyway. I have a feeling he wouldn’t have done it. I don’t think he wants to fight. I’ve always said that he doesn’t want to fight me. Honestly, I would have loved for that fight to happen.
“When I win the belt, I’ll give him the title shot. That would be a fantastic fight in the U.K. Bring it back to The O2 where it happened, for the title. That’s what I want to do after this. … I’ll offer it to him. I’ll offer it to him if it happens in the U.K., for sure. My dream scenario would be to bring him back to London and headline London. I’ve never gotten the opportunity to headline London. First I was supposed to do it with [Tyron] Woodley, then that got cancelled because of COVID. So I’ve always wanted to come back home and do it.”
Edwards’ beef with Masvidal dates back to UFC London in 2019 when the two had a now infamous run-in backstage where Masvidal attacked Edwards, hitting him with “a three piece with the soda.” Afterward, Edwards repeatedly courted a fight with Masvidal to no avail as Masvidal focused on bigger opportunities, winning the ‘BMF’ title and challenging welterweight champion Kamaru Usman twice.
Recently, though, Masvidal found himself in a spot of trouble when he allegedly attacked rival Colby Covington outside a restaurant in Miami following their fight at UFC 272. The alleged attack, Edwards says, is proof of what he’s been saying about Masvidal all along.
“That boy’s a little rat,” Edwards said. “Colby shouldn’t have snitched, but Masvidal, he’s like a little rat. He’s like a sneaky, run up behind you, throw a shot, and ducks off. He’s a weirdo. A weird, weird man.”
A title defense against Masvidal would undoubtedly be a big payday for Edwards, but there are some impediments to his dream scenario. “Rocky” will challenge champion Kamaru Usman on Aug. 20 at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City, but even if he does win the title, given Usman’s reign of dominance and previous win over Edwards, a trilogy bout is a near certainty.
Even Edwards admits that will probably come first, but he still holds out hope for his grudge match.
“I believe that’s going to happen as well, but I’d love to have the Masvidal fight,” Edwards said. “I think that would be a great [fight] and a great backstory to it, but I think that’s going to happen. I’ll beat [Usman] in August and they’ll want a rematch at the end of the year, December-ish. But we’ll see what’s going to happen.”