Jorge Masvidal believes he’s more of a draw in England than Leon Edwards.
Edwards has become a superstar over his last two fights against Kamaru Usman. After earning the UFC welterweight championship in August 2022, ‘Rocky’ defended his title in front of his hometown fans in England. Although he received massive support throughout the fight week, Masvidal thinks the English fans like him more than the 170-pound champion.
During an interview on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Masvidal had this to say about Edwards:
“You might not believe this, but I’m 10x a bigger draw than what’s his face [Edwards] in England… I’m telling you I’m a bigger draw in f*cking England… Bro, he’s not even f*cking English. He doesn’t know what he is. One day he’s claiming he’s from Jamaica, the next day I don’t know, Egypt. He’s not from nowhere, bro. I’m f*cking gonna beat up the English dude with more English fans.”
Edwards was born in Kingston, Jamaica, before leaving for England at nine years old. He moved to Birmingham, England, continuing to live and train there to this day. The 31-year-old proudly represents the flag of England while still showcasing his birthplace at times.
Jorge Masvidal on Leon Edwards: I'm telling you I'm a bigger draw in fucking England.#TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/9AjoHTtvcf
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) March 27, 2023
Jorge Masvidal claims the UFC 286 PPV sales aren’t being revealed for a reason
On March 18, Leon Edwards headlined UFC 286, defeating Kamaru Usman for the second time. The event was a massive success with ticket sales, becoming the highest-grossing event in O2 Arena history with a sold-out crowd. With that said, the number of PPVs sold was not released, and Jorge Masvidal thinks he knows why.
During the same interview with Ariel Helwani, Masvidal accused Edwards and Usman of not being a PPV draw by saying:
“If the number [of UFC 286 PPVs] was anywhere decent, believe me they would have hinted at it already because it’s digital sh*t, they already know… If the number was good, they would have leaked that sh*t out… They’re [Edwards and Usman] good competitors, good fighters, but they don’t put it all on the line, so nobody buys this sh*t bro.”
Masvidal’s next fight will be against Gilbert Burns in the UFC 287 co-main event on April 8. Although Dana White confirmed Colby Covington is fighting Edwards next, ‘Gamebred’ believes he would earn a title shot by defeating Burns. The Miami native thinks he deserves to skip the line because he’s a bigger draw and has an unsettled rivalry with the reigning UFC welterweight champion.
After knocking out Darren Till at UFC London, Jorge Masvidal cut short his post-fight interview and turned his attentions to Leon Edwards. pic.twitter.com/eDPOqF48LM
— ESPN UK (@ESPNUK) March 17, 2019
Masvidal claims that the UFC did not release the PPV buys for Edwards vs Usman because it did not do well, whereas his and Usman's first fight generated over 1.3M PPV buys@GamebredFighter / @arielhelwani pic.twitter.com/d2MlR4hbZK
— No Context Ariel Helwani (@NoContextAriel) March 27, 2023