Getty Colby Covington & Jorge Masvidal
Former two-time UFC welterweight title challenger Jorge Masvidal will not fight Leon Edwards for the belt next, Chael Sonnen said, because of “Gamebred’s” 0-3 “problem.”
In a recent interview with MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck, Masvidal made it clear that he hopes to challenge “Rocky” for the undisputed 170-pound crown.
The two have had a rivalry for years that stems from when Masvidal punched Edwards multiple times backstage at a UFC event in London in 2019.
“Leon, f****** step up to the plate, bro,” Masvidal said. “You begged and cried, and did all of this bulls*** before when I was fighting for the title — now you’ve got the belt, let’s go. I never dodged this f*** because when I wasn’t fighting Leon, I was fighting the guy who had the belt. After that, I fought the guy who was [ranked] No. 1.
“So if Leon wants it, I’m here, but he’d rather be drinking tea, eating fish and chips and s***, I don’t know.”
UFC Would Have Difficulty Promotion Edwards vs. Masvidal Due to Masvidal’s Losing Streak, Sonnen Says
Well, according to Sonnen, the promotion would have an extremely hard time selling the fight as “Gamebred” is 0-3 in his last three contests, which includes two failed attempts at capturing UFC gold.
Sonnen admitted in a recent YouTube video on his channel that the storyline between Edwards and Masvidal “works,” but the UFC couldn’t explain why Masvidal was getting a title shot over the likes of Colby Covington and Khamzat Chimaev.
“Leon can understand where Jorge could not qualify for a world title fight by losing his last three fights, of which that opportunity was given,” Sonnen said (h/t MMA News). “They’re not going to make that fight. There’s no salesman in the world that could explain to the audience why Masvidal is now fighting for a world title when guys like (Colby) Covington, or (Khamzat) Chimaev, or (Gilbert) Burns — you just couldn’t package that up and explain it.
“The backstory works, the personal grudge works, they’re gonna bring attention, they’re going to fill an arena — you just can’t put the belt up,” Sonnen continued. “The belt is the only thing that becomes a problem with that fight.”
Fans Could See Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3 as Early as March, Rocky Recently Said
In what was arguably the most shocking moment in UFC welterweight history, Edwards snatched the belt from Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August after landing a curtain-closing head kick. He knocked out “The Nigerian Nightmare” with under a minute left on the clock in a fight which Usman was poised to win via unanimous decision.
After the fight, both combatants along with UFC president Dana White shared an interest in running the trilogy fight next. Rocky and The Nigerian Nightmare are 1-1 against each other with Usman picking up a unanimous decision victory over Edwards in 2015.
And the fight could happen as early as March in the United Kingdom. That’s what Edwards told TroopzTV in a recent interview on their YouTube channel. Edwards was adamant that he wouldn’t fight Usman in the United States for their third meeting. Instead, the Englishman said he hoped to fight the former champion in a stadium show at home.