UFC 286 just happened and as usual, after a big event, the rumour mill is in full flow. In the headlining fight in London, Leon Edwards once again defeated Kamaru Usman to retain his welterweight championship. Straight after the main event, Dana White was at his post-media scrum saying Leon Edwards would face Colby Covington next.
Colby Covington Returns
Earning his title the hard way, Edwards then defended his gold in an excellently executed game decision to score his second victory over former champion Kamaru Usman this Saturday. Another big headline both, before and after the event was the re-emergence of Colby Covington.
A surprise to many ‘Chaos’ Covington returned out of the blue to weigh in as the backup fighter at UFC 286. Speculation was rife and Colby managed to get his name back into title contention. Even despite his long absence.
Further fuel was added to the already growing fire when UFC president Dana White claimed Leon Vs Colby was the next fight to make. One man who doesn’t agree with this decision is current champion, Leon Edwards.
Leon Edwards: “I Definitely Have a Say“
Edwards claims Covington hasn’t earned his shot at gold and has “sat out, not injured”, “for over a year and a half.” The champion continued “I’m the king now. I’ve earned my way so I feel like I should decide who’s next.”
On Monday the welterweight king would make an appearance on Ariel Helwani’s MMA hour. Once again the topic of conversation found its way to Covington, where Leon shared more thoughts.
“[The fight] makes no sense, right? He’s coming off a loss, [he] beat Masvidal, that’s it. Sat out for like a year and a half, went to court. I still don’t get the case for him to fight for a title. They’re trying to make it. It doesn’t make sense to me at all,”
“I definitely have a say. Listen, he ain’t getting the 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 I just beat twice.”
Edwards then gives further reasoning as to why he feels Colby doesn’t deserve the shot. Reminding fans about a time a few years ago when his ranking was removed due to ‘inactivity’.
“This is a guy I’ve been matched up with three times in a row. I took the fight and he didn’t take the fight. And then, he’s getting rewarded for not taking the fight. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings.”
Is Colby Covington vs Leon Edwards Next?
Now despite all Edwards has said, he isn’t completely opposed to facing Covington next but only on one condition. Saying the following: “I feel like he needs at least one more fight. Everyone else is fighting and working their way to get to a title shot,”
Before continuing “I feel like he should go out there and fight one of the top five guys, top six guys and we’ll go from there.”
Quotes via BloodyElbow and MMA hour
Should Leon Edward Vs Colby Covington be next for welterweight gold?
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images and Embed from Getty Images
