Many people feel like Leon Edwards should be fighting for the title instead of taking on Jorge Masvidal at UFC 269. However the BMF champ tends to disagree, saying that Leon does not deserve a shot.
There is bad blood between Masvidal and Edwards, to say the least. The two came to blows backstage in 2019, and have been going back and forth ever since, only amplifying things once it was revealed that they would be officially fighting at UFC 269, on December 11th.
While some believe that Leon should have waited for a title shot, Jorge does not think the Englishman is a deserving contender. Speaking on the MMA Hour, Jorge says that between the inactivity and the fact that he refused to take the fight on five weeks notice, Leon is not worthy of top contender status.
“When I fought Usman on six days notice… before they offered it to Gilbert, they gave it to scared a— Leon “Hoe” Edwards, and what did he do? He didn’t take the fight on five weeks notice. So they gave it to Gil, and then Gilbert got sick and I’m the one who decided to fight on six days notice. You think I wanted to fight on six day’s notice? No but I had the opportunity so I did it,” Masvidal said.
“So he’s had opportunities to fight for the belt and ranked opponents, but it’s always something for him. He says one thing but it’s the complete other. He says ‘I’m ready to fight everybody else,’ and this and that, but then when he’s with the UFC he’s like ‘I need a ten week training camp, I need this, I need that,’ like, shut the f—k up bro. You should’ve been training and should’ve been getting after it the way that you talk, that you always want to fight and fight. I pulled off like five fights while he got one in, so I don’t know how he could deserve a title shot.”
Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards exchange words and punches backstage during the ESPN+ post-show pic.twitter.com/kYEkWxN8Io
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 16, 2019
It Isn’t Personal For Jorge Masvidal
Considering the fact that there is some real tension between Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards, on top of their past history, it would make sense for both men to take this fight personally. However this is not the case, at least for Jorge.
He went on to explain that to him this is just business, even though Leon is taking things personally. “Gamebred” is just focused on his own training, and is ignoring the bad blood between the two.
“In the past, I was fighting ranked opponents for belts. Now I’ve got a little bit of downtime, I’m like yeah I’ll fight this guy. I don’t got s—t to do right now,” Masvidal said.
“I’ve always said it. Nothing’s personal, it’s all business in this game. I just don’t like the dude, I could care less for him. He gets rich, if he doesn’t get rich, I don’t wish him any good or bad. I cold just care less about this individual since I’ve met him. It’s still the same thing. I could give a f—k less about him, it’s just another guy in the way of me chasing my goals and my dreams that I’ve had since I was a child.
“I’m glad it’s (personal for him). He’s an idiot,” Masvidal added. I’m going to do what I do, slap him up, beat him up, and upset him the whole damn time we’re fighting. To me it’s never personal with these guys, it can’t be. This is a business, I signed up for this, I know exactly what I signed myself up to, since I signed the dotted line when I was 18. I knew what I was getting myself into…
“I could give a f—k why it’s personal for him or not, to tell you the truth… I really could give a f—k why it’s personal to him. I don’t care, that’s not my business, my concern. I know what I have to do, and I know what I’m going to get done on December 11th.”
Personal or not, Jorge Masvidal will settle the score with Leon Edwards at a UFC 269, on December 11th. This is a fight that has been brewing for some time, and it will be exciting to see it come to a head.
