Leon Edwards' next opponent announced after defending UFC welterweight title

19 March 2023 , 01:31

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Leon Edwards' next opponent announced after defending UFC welterweight title

Leon Edwards will face Colby Covington in the second defence of his UFC welterweight title following his win against Kamaru Usman.

Edwards settled his rivalry with Usman by winning a majority decision in their trilogy fight at UFC 286 at The O2 arena in London. 'Rocky' put on a perfect gameplan as he nullified the takedown threat from Usman across five rounds to win by majority decision with scores of 48-46, 48-46 and 47-47.

UFC boss Dana White about Edwards' next challenger just moments after his title defence against Usman and he confirmed that Colby Covington would be next in line for the Brit. "That's the fight that makes sense, Colby came over here, cut weight and did everything to be here for this fight. He deserves the fight. Not to mention that he's the second or third best guy in the world."

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Covington was in London to watch Edwards beat Usman as he flew over from America on short notice to serve as a backup fighter for their title clash. ‘Chaos’ didn’t take a seat for the entire 25-minutes as he stood up at cageside with a suit on taking a close look at his soon-to-be opponent.

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The American revealed he cut a massive 18lb in just five days to make 170lb on Friday morning, stating: "I'm ready to fight tonight as you guys see, I came over and cut 18 pounds, didn't cry about it and make excuses. I'm the ultimate professional unlike these other guys as I stay ready to fight."

Leon Edwards will fight Colby Covington next (Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

Covington will look to win the welterweight belt on his third attempt having previously come up short twice in his title fights against former champion Usman. Covington has never been booked to fight Edwards before and he cited American history when asked to make a prediction for their fight, stating: "I see it looking a lot lime 1776 and I see him going home in a pie and coffin."

Edwards downplayed a fight with Covington next and said he'd rather fight Jorge Masvidal, granted 'Gamebred' can get past Gilbert Burns in their fight next month. "I just don't see how Colby sits out for a year, then slides back into a title shot. I had to work so hard to get there, he was saying who is he but now I'm the king. I'll decide who's next."

Harry Davies