Leon Edwards Claims Kamaru Usman & Jorge Masvidal Are The Only Two Fights For Him
Leon Edwards has his eyes set on Jorge Masvidal and Kamaru Usman after his dominant win over Rafael dos Anjos.
For the Englishman, it was the kind of performance that results in title shot talks. And, with him now being on an eight-fight winning streak, he is simply ecstatic:
“I’m very happy,” Edwards said to MMA Junkie. “It felt great to go out there and outclass a former world champion in RDA in the way I did it. I’m on an eight-fight win streak now, second-most to the current champion, so it feels good.
“Now they’re seeing my work and seeing how good I am. I’m proving to the world that I am one of the best fighters, especially coming out of the U.K.”
Being the next star from the U.K. is something Leon Edwards wants. The only UFC champion from England in history is Michael Bisping. But, Edwards expects himself to become the second very soon. He is also hoping his recent run will encourage others to get into the sport:
“It’s amazing,” Edwards said. “It’s one of my aims to do it from the UK and prove to the kids that are coming up behind me that you can also be the best in the world coming up through the UK. I’ve grown up being told we had to go to America, Brazil, wherever in order to get the training because we can’t wrestle, we can’t grapple, blah, blah, blah.
“But we’ve got great talent here in the UK. There are great fighters and great coaching staff here. So it feels amazing to do it all from my hometown, coming from Birmingham and seeing all the kids following my footsteps into MMA. It’s amazing to see.”
Regardless of that, Leon Edwards is now ranked in the top-five. And, he either wants to fight rival Jorge Masvidal next, or Kamaru Usman for the belt. Those, he says are his only options:
“For me, the two fights to make are Usman and ‘The Weasel.’ There’s no other fights for me, really,” Edwards said.
“I haven’t heard much from the UFC since Saturday,” he admitted. “I know Dana came out and said he liked the me and Jorge Masvidal fight. That’s all I’ve heard. I think they’ll try to push for that fight, and hopefully we’ll get that done.”
Who do you think Leon Edwards should fight next?
