Nope! Edwards Denies Covington’s ‘Dana White Privilege’

Leon Edwards isn’t in favor of Colby Covington’s recently promised title shot.

UFC 286 was quite the homecoming for the man known as “Rocky.” Edwards entered London, England’s O2 Arena as a first-time defending UFC Welterweight champion for a big-time trilogy against Kamaru Usman. Also in attendance — weighing in as the back up fighter the day before — was Covington.

Covington was seen jumping for joy as the majority decision was read in favor of the retaining champion, Edwards. UFC President, Dana White, confirmed after the night’s conclusion that “Chaos” was next in line for the title despite two title losses to Usman in his last four fights, separated by victories over Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal.

“I definitely have a say [in who’s next],” Edwards told The MMA Hour. “Listen, he ain’t getting a title shot next fight. Look at the road I had to take to get there. There’s no way you’re getting beat twice by the guy that I just beat twice, went out and beat Masvidal, and then sit out for a year and a half, not even tweeting or nothing, just go missing for a year, and then randomly pops up at the weigh-ins and it’s like, ‘Okay, he’s fighting for the title next.’ It makes no sense at all, so let’s see how it plays out. He has to go out there and earn his way like I had to do.

“Khamzat [Chimaev] and me were calling each other out for years,” he continued. “This is a guy that I got matched up with three times in a row. I took the [Chimaev] fight and [Covington] didn’t take the fight and he’s getting rewarded for not taking the fight. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings. So ‘Dana White privilege’ is definitely real.”

With each win, Edwards’ run gets more and more impressive, having not lost since his first Usman fight in Dec. 2015. The British superstar has gone unbeaten in 12 bouts and hopes for a worthy challenger for his second defense.

“I feel like he needs at least one more fight,” Edwards said. “Everyone else is fighting and working their way to get to a title shot, so why should he be sitting out for a year not doing nothing and then randomly slide into the title shot? I feel like he should go out there and fight one of the top 5 guys, top 6 guys, and we’ll go from there.

“There’s literally no clear contender right now and I feel like they’re all one fight away from the world title,” he concluded. “So I’ll sit back on my throne and have a look.”

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For complete UFC 286: “Edwards vs. Usman” results and play-by-play, click HERE.