Leon Edwards knows he wasn’t Tyron Woodley’s first choice for his next opponent. The matchup was the UFC’s first choice, though, and that’s why it’s happening at UFC on ESPN+ 29 in March.
Woodley (19-4-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) made it clear in recent months that a matchup wasn’t at the top of the list. Add in the fact it takes place in Edwards’ (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) home country of England? The former UFC titleholder made it crystal clear, claiming he was would only leave the U.S. to go on vacation.
The end result, however, was Woodley signing to fight Edwards for the welterweight headliner at UFC on ESPN+ 29, which takes place March 21 at The O2 in London and streams on ESPN+. How did that happen? Edwards said the UFC brass left Woodley with an ultimatum.
“Tyron was trying to make excuses of why he shouldn’t come overseas and why he didn’t want to come to London,” Edwards told MMA Junkie. “The UFC had to force him into it. They gave him no choice but to take the fight. He was forced into it. He knows it’s a dangerous fight for him, and after I beat him, where does he go? He knows the risk.
“I went to Vegas and I had a meeting with Sean Shelby and Dana White and they were saying, ‘You’ve got no other options.’ He would fight me or they were going to move him out of the rankings. He had no choice. He had to take the fight. There’s no other way for him to go. He can’t wait out for a title shot because that’s not going to happen. It’s the only fight that makes sense for the division.”
On Dec. 25, MMA Junkie first reported the fight between Edwards and Woodley for the main event in London. The pair has since traded barbs on social media, with Edwards taking shots at Woodley’s music career. Woodley was clearly irritated by the putdowns, and Edwards said he saw that as a weakness he’s going to continue to poke fun at up until fight night.
“It’s easy to wind him up,” Edwards said. “It’s easy to get into his head. I’ve got no problem playing that all the way through fight camp. It’s fun. He’s taking it seriously. His music is (expletive), so I don’t know why he’s getting mad. I don’t understand.”
The matchup with Woodley is definitely the biggest fight of Edwards’ career thus far. He said he signed a new multi-fight UFC contract ahead of the event, and it includes championship language that will benefit him if he fights for the title.
With an eight-fight winning streak to his name, Edwards was pushing for a title shot after beating ex-titleholder Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4 in June. He didn’t get the next shot at champion Kamaru Usman (who was the last person to hand him a loss), but if “Rocky” can beat his second consecutive former champion at UFC on ESPN+ 29, he said there will be no denying him.
“After this fight I’ll be ranked No. 1 and on a nine-fight win streak,” Edwards said. “That’s second most to the champion right now. There’s no bigger fight. I would have loved the title fight or (Jorge) Masvidal, but this is the next best thing. Fighting Tyron Woodley, a former world champion, some people consider him the best welterweight of all time.
“It’s good to be able to go out there and prove my case that I’m leaps above these guys. I look forward to going out there and putting on the performance of my life. I’ll show I’m better than these guys and it’s going to be good.”
Leon Edwards enjoys prodding Tyron Woodley, says ex-champ 'forced into' UFC London headliner
