Leon Edwards’ manager, Tim Simpson, revealed the UFC welterweight champion will defend his throne against Colby Covington in 2023.
In August 2022, Edwards shocked the world when he dethroned Kamaru Usman with less than a minute in the fight. On March 18, ‘Rocky’ fought Usman in an immediate rematch and won by majority decision to silence the doubters who thought his win was a fluke.
Shortly after Edwards won at UFC 286, Dana White confirmed his next title defense would be against Covington. ‘Chaos’ hasn’t fought since March 2022, a win against Jorge Masvidal, but his role as the backup for Edwards vs. Usman 3 led to a title shot.
The welterweight division is now waiting to see who will be the champion between Edwards and Covington. Luckily, the intriguing stylistic matchup is expected to take place within the next three months.
During an interview with Submission Radio, Tim Simpson, the manager of Edwards and several other UFC champions, had this to say about ‘Rocky’ vs. ‘Chaos’:
“It’ll be before the end of the year. I guess the two cards left are November and December and they’re still finalizing those. Leon’s good, he’s ready to go, waiting for the call. From my understanding, Colby’s ready to go as well. So, it’ll be one of those two.”
Tim Simpson reveals at one point the UFC considered Edwards/Covington for #UFC293, confirms fight should fall on November or December card!
🎥: https://t.co/Tgck9Idq1h pic.twitter.com/o9a83kerC6
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) September 8, 2023
Tim Simpson claims various options were considered before solidifying the UFC 293 main event
On Saturday night, September 9, the UFC returns to Australia for a pay-per-view event headlined by Israel Adesanya vs. Sean Strickland. As previously reported, Tim Simpson revealed there were several options considered before giving a middleweight title shot to Strickland.
During the same interview with Submission Radio, Simpson had this to say about who was considered for the UFC 293 main event before Adesanya vs. Strickland:
“I had discussed options outside of Israel [Adesanya for UFC 293] like can Leon [Edwards] and Colby [Covington] be ready, could Jiri Prochazka be ready. It was very tight particularly on this side of the world for those guys. I think they were looking at other options for Israel, maybe [Jared] Cannonier, really hoping to get Dricus [Du Plessis] back in, which didn’t happen…Our big thing was keeping Izzy on this card and managed to get it done.”
Regardless of what was offered, Israel Adesanya was focused on fighting in Australia on Saturday night. ‘The Last Stylebender’ looks to start his second middleweight title reign on the right foot by defeating Sean Strickland. Only time will tell if and how Adesanya will emerge victorious.
