UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards opens up on his relationship with UFC President Dana White amid the Colby Covington controversy.
In March, at UFC 286, Edwards successfully completed the double over Kamaru Usman, earning a majority decision on the judges’ scorecards. Colby Covington, the UFC’s favourite heel, weighed in as the backup fighter in case anything was to unexpectedly occur.
With both Edwards and Usman making weight, Covington wasn’t needed. However, his commitment and willingness to fly London was rewarded by White, who confirmed at the post-fight press conference that Covington would be the next challenger for Edwards’ welterweight strap.
With Covington claiming White had told him the Brit would be stripped if he refused to fight, Edwards doesn’t buy into the talk from “Chaos”. In a recent interview with Sky Sports, Edwards detailed his relationship with the boss and, in fact, finds himself closer to Hunter Campbell, the UFC Chief Business Officer.
Leon Edwards on relationship with Dana White
“It’s alright, we’re not the best pals, or best friends, but like any relationship right, it’s all good,” Edwards said. “I’m more closer than Hunter than Dana too probably… Yeah, I think he knows what I’m thinking anyway and what I want, you know? So yeah, let’s see, like I said, whoever comes comes but he has to make sense as well, you know.”
In the same conversation with Sky Sports, Edwards was questioned on why he’s against Covington being the next challenger, and for the champion, it’s quite simple. In Edwards’s view, Covington hasn’t had to knock off contenders and drag himself through the trenches as he did.
“Colby’s been uninjured, sitting on the sidelines, turning down fights for over a year,” Edwards said. “Nobody else has done that and earned a title shot from doing that, that’s the ‘why not?’ I feel like if you’re, if you’re true like- if you believe you’re a champion, you should fight all the guys that’s been offered to you, the [Gilbert] Burns, the Khamzat [Chimaev], I hands up three times… He hasn’t earned his position.”
Quotes via MMA News
Despite how Edwards feels, it’s likely his next fight will be Covington unless the situation takes a dramatic change. He assured fans he would not feature on the UFC’s return to London in July. Instead, eyes a return in Autumn in Abu Dhabi.
Do you think the next title fight at welterweight will be between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments!
