With Jorge Masvidal unavailable, Leon Edwards calls for fights with Rafael dos Anjos, Robbie Lawler
In the wake of his recent decision victory over Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, rising welterweight contender Leon Edwards called for a fight with Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal.
“At the time, he was No. 6 in the rankings and I was going down in the rankings and everyone else was matched up, so why not take out another old gun?” Edwards said, explaining why he called out Masvidal. “Masvidal, he’s been around again, a long time, so why not go in there and take him out?
Masvidal then agreed to this potential fight, though he didn’t sound particularly excited about the matchup.
“People are always calling me out,” Masvidal told MMAjunkie. “I don’t give two shits who calls me out. I just want a big fight.
“If Leon is the biggest fight that I can get my hands on, meaning the biggest name and biggest ranking, then that’s who it is.”
Since then, however, Masvidal has shifted his attention to reality television, competing on the Spanish reality television program Exatlon Estados Unidos.
With Masvidal currently unavailable, Leon Edwards is now eyeing fights with former welterweight champion Robbie Lawler and former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos.
“I went over to the U.S. ahead of that press conference. We had a meeting [with the UFC] and we really tried to get that Masvidal fight, but it didn’t work out,” Edwards told MMA Fighting.
“The guy hasn’t fought in ages and now he’s off to play games in a reality TV show. It makes no sense to me,”he continued. “Let him go off and do his TV shit, but I’m here to fight and to test myself and I want a top-ranked guy. He’s got two losses on the bounce; if that was me I’d want to get back in there and get back in the win column. It makes no sense.”
“I’m not hanging everything on Masvidal. The aim for me is to get that world title. If he’s too busy with reality TV shows, I’ll turn my attention to Robbie Lawler or RDA. Either Masvidal, Robbie Lawler, or Rafael Dos Anjos would be good for me in December. All I can do is wait and see, and hopefully there will be no more excuses,” he said.
Which of these matchups do you like best for Leon Edwards?
This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 8/12/2018.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
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Leon Edwards
