UFC President Dana White wants reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards to make his next 170-pound title defense against No. 2-ranked contender Colby Covington, despite the fact that “Chaos” is already 0-2 in UFC title fights.
Edwards, however, doesn’t appear to be on board with those plans.
That means “Rocky” could be in danger of forfeiting his division title, an unfortunate turn of events for everyone except “frustrated” fellow contender Belal Muhammad, who continues to campaign for his own crack at the welterweight crown.
“He’s got nowhere to go,” Covington told Submission Radio. “If Leon doesn’t want to fight, I’ve already been assured that it’s okay. They’ll just strip him, and I’m next in line. So, the fact that he’s trying to cry and act all privileged is just funny. But there’s nowhere to go. Dana has assured me I’m fighting him this summer. I don’t know the location yet. We’ll have to wait to see from Dana and the big bosses at the UFC what they decide. I know he wanted to fight the Street Judas Masvidal so bad. Don’t worry, Leon, after I beat your ass this summer, you can fight Jorge on the Prelims.”
Covington (17-3) first tried to usurp the throne by taking on then-champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 245 back in late 2019, falling by way of fifth-round technical knockout. A subsequent victory over ex-champion Tyron Woodley earned him a second shot at “The Nigerian Nightmare” but once again, “Chaos” failed to get the job done.
Beating Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272 was enough to get Covington back in the mix.
“I’m not surprised [Edwards is] afraid,” Covington continued. “He knows the matchup is the hardest matchup he’s ever gonna have in his life. And he knows I’m coming to take everything he worked for. He worked so hard, sat out two years, fought the easiest fight in the division, Nate Diaz, and the guy’s fucking saying this and that, like he’s a God and ran through the division. He hasn’t done anything in the sport. And the fact that he’s acting so privileged, like he just earned and deserved all this stuff, is just hilarious. But the fans see that. The fans see the coward that he is, and I’m gonna turn this redcoat into the yellowbelly like the little bitch that he is.”
UFC has yet to make an official announcement.
