UFC
Leon Edwards shoots down Covington for not fighting Khamzat: “Getting rewarded for not taking the fight”
Khamzat Chimaev, Leon Edwards and Colby Covington. Photo: Stefan Romare, UFC and USA Today Sports
After Saturday’s title fight between champion Leon Edwards and challenger Kamaru Usman, UFC president Dana White said that Colby Covington is guaranteed a shot at the title next.
However, recently visiting Ariel Helwani’s MMA Hour, the champion claimed that he won’t accept a fight with “Chaos” next.
“Listen, he ain’t getting a title shot next fight. Look at the road I had to take to get there,” Edwards said.
“There’s no way you’re getting beat twice by the guy that I just beat twice, went out and beat Masvidal, and then sit out for a year and a half, not even tweeting or nothing, just go missing for a year and then randomly pops up at the weigh-ins and it’s like, ‘OK, he’s fighting for the title next.’”
Read more: Analysis: This is why Colby Covington doesn’t deserve a title shot
Leon Edwards: Dana White privilege’ is definitely real
The welterweight champion then made a case of Covington getting a shot at the title by ducking top ranked Khamzat Chimaev, which he claimed to be an example of the infamous “Dana White privilege”.
“Khamzat and me were calling each other out for years. This is a guy that I got matched up with three times in a row. I took the fight and (Covington) didn’t take the fight and he’s getting rewarded for not taking the fight. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings. So ‘Dana White privilege’ is definitely real.”
The champion also claimed he had no idea that Covington was the official backup for the title fight. In fact, he learned the news like everybody else when the American stepped to the scale this past Friday morning.
“I found out on the weigh-in day when I saw on Twitter that Colby Covington weighed in, I was like, ‘What? What’s he weighing in for?’” Edwards said.
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