Following the biggest win of his career, Leon Edwards is now poised to get a top-10 opponent and has his eyes set on Jorge Masvidal.
Edwards (16-3) defeated Donald Cerrone (33-11) via unanimous decision in the UFC’s return to Singapore this past weekend. That made it six wins in a row for the Brit, who currently is No. 11 in the UFC’s welterweight rankings.
Speaking on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on Monday, Edwards addressed why he is targeting Masvidal. “I was looking at the rankings and who hasn’t got a fight, and Masvidal stood out to me,” Edwards said. “I think he was No. 6 or No. 7 in the rankings” — Masvidal actually is No. 9 — “so I think he would be a good fit to bring him back to my hometown of Birmingham and school him.”
Edwards is planning on taking some time off with his family, after going through back-to-back fight camps. But he hopes to get back in the Octagon in the fall. “If Jorge Masvidal wants it at the end of the year, I’m willing to go October, November,” he said on the ESPN podcast.
If Masvidal, who last fought in November, isn’t willing to wait that long? “Everyone in the top 10 can get it, so it’s not like me hating on Masvidal,” Edwards said. “I just looked at the rankings, he doesn’t have a fight, so I said I’d fight him next. That’s as simple as it is. My aim is to get that world title, so I’m going to keep chipping away, one fight at a time. And I’ll get to where I get to.”
Reflecting back on the Cerrone main event, Edwards said he experienced no anxiety while headlining a UFC event for the first time. “Not one bit,” he said. “I remember being backstage and warming up with my team and thinking, ‘Why am I not getting nervous?’ I felt the same as I normally would. Apart from fighting a bit later and it being five rounds, everything was exactly the same, like another fight week. It was all good for me.”
In the post-fight news conference, Cerrone told reporters he was close to pulling out of the bout due to being sick that day. However, Edwards didn’t see any decline in the American’s performance. “That was news to me that he was ill,” Edwards said. “When we were in the fight, he looked the same Donald like in the last four or five fights. So I don’t know where that came from. If anything, he looked better than he did in his last two or three fights. Excuses are for losers, and I’m the winner. So that’s the end of that.”
Edwards was offended by Cerrone’s claim. “When I heard it, I thought, ‘Don’t try and take away from my victory.’ That’s the best Donald I’ve seen. … He can come up with whatever excuse he wants, but he got outclassed and I won most of the fight.”
After going the distance in a five-round fight for the first time in his career, Edwards was a little disappointed not to get the finish but had no doubt he clearly won the majority of the rounds. “I’d probably give myself a 7 out of 10 for the performance,” he said. “I would’ve liked to have gone out there and get the finish, because I want to push for that Birmingham show and bring the UFC back to Birmingham.”