Leon Edwards may be on the verge of losing the Tyron Woodley fight, but that doesn’t mean he’ll accept anything less for his next outing.
Edwards (18-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) was scheduled to face Woodley in the main event of UFC on ESPN+ 29 in London, but the event was canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Ever since the cancellation of the fight, Woodley has no longer been interested in Edwards, as the former champion instead diverted his attention to Colby Covington, and even agreed to face him on April 18 before the card fell through.
So if Edwards isn’t able to get the Woodley fight rebooked, he’s happy to move on, just as long as it’s someone ahead of him in the rankings that will set him up for a title shot.
“For me, it has to be someone above me,” Edwards told MMA Junkie. “I’ve worked too hard to get into this position to be fighting Top 10. I’ve the second-most wins in the division compared to the champion, so I truly believe that I deserve a world title shot already. So the only way I’ll fight again is either (a) title shot or the No. 1 contender spot. There’s no point of me going backwards and fighting someone in the Top 10, because it’ll defeat the point of me getting to this position.
“(The) only reason I wanted to fight Woodley was because he was a former world champion and the Usman fight was taken away from me because of Masvidal, so anyone above me is the only option right now.”
Edwards’ last loss was over four years ago to current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. Since then, he’s won his last eight in a row, with wins over the likes of Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, and Rafael dos Anjos.
The fight with Woodley still hasn’t officially slipped away, with both men yet to be booked for their next fight. They’ve continued to trade barbs on social media, too.
“He’s calling out the middleweight champion, he’s calling out lightweights, he’s calling out everyone, apart from me,” Edwards said. “I messaged him yesterday telling him you sound like a girl trying to get backstage with the popular guys, but these are fun for me. I’m having fun with it and it’s banter.”
Leon Edwards says he's standing firm on next fight: 'Title shot or No. 1 contender spot'