Edwards Will Smoke Diaz, Wait For Title Shot

UFC President Dana White plans to give Colby Covington the next crack at reigning 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman, despite losing by way of technical knockout to “The Nigerian Nightmare” in their UFC 245 main event back in late 2019.

Since that five-round contest, Usman has gone on to register three straight title defenses with two knockout finishes. “Chaos,” meanwhile, rebounded with a late finish over the since-departed Tyron Woodley at UFC Vegas 11 in Sept. 2020.

Welterweight contender Leon Edwards is not impressed.

“I don’t know how Dana is justifying giving Colby the title shot,” Edwards told ESPN (transcribed by Harry Kettle). “He went out there, it was an injury against Tyron Woodley, he sat out for over a year and demanded that he wants a title shot after just getting knocked out for the title like one fight ago. I just don’t understand how they’re even considering that when I’ve been here for years, grinding my way back up from my last defeat.”

Edwards (18-3, 1 NC), has not lost since Usman outpointed him at UFC on FOX 17 in Dec. 2015. In the years that followed, “Rocky” captured eight straight wins (topped with one No Contest) to climb all the way up to No. 3 at 170 pounds.

“I went on an eight fight win streak, soon to be nine, so after I go out there and defeat Nate next weekend, I’ll be waiting for my title shot,” Edwards continued. “If that’s the game plan – to wait it out, sit out and don’t fight, then I’ll be doing the same. I will go out there and I’ll handle my business this weekend, and I’ll wait for my shot. That’ll make it nine in a row. That’s the third most in the division’s history. There’s Usman, GSP and me for the most wins, so I’ll go out there and prove my case.”

Edwards returns to the cage against longtime veteran Nate Diaz as part of the UFC 263 pay-per-view (PPV) event, which takes place this Sat. night (June 12, 2021) inside Gila River Arena in Glendale Arizona. And judging by his comments, that may be the last we see of “Rocky” until the promotion comes through with a welterweight title shot.

To see who else is fighting at UFC 263 click here.