Leon Edwards reveals that he always wanted to fight Jorge Masvidal

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The competitive welterweight division is quite empty without Jorge Masvidal; he recently retired after his match against Gilbert Burns. Masvidal said if he secured a victory that night against burns, he would be looking forward to fighting the current UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards.

They were a part of a heated altercation back in 2019, and since then, Masvidal and Edwards have been going back and forth. An official match was scheduled between the two in 2021, but it got cancelled because Masvidal was suffering through an injury, and the details about the injury were not publicly disclosed.

Never say never; Jorge Masvidal could come out of retirement and fight, as he’s still under a contract with the UFC. If he does come out of retirement, a clash between him and Edwards will inevitably happen.

Leon Edwards on fighting Jorge Masvidal

In an interview with MMA Fighting, Leon Edwards spoke about match cancellations with Jorge Masvidal and explained why it is good that Masvidal retired from the sport.

He also mentions that he really wanted that match to take place. “That was the fight to make even after the [Ben] Askren fight,” Edwards said, as quoted by mmafighting.com. “That was the fight to make straight away, but for some reason they didn’t want to make it.

“I think [at UFC 287], he showed his age. He’s what, 37 or 38? He looked slow in there. He got fatigued within a round or so. I don’t think either of them looked great, him or Gilbert. Gilbert was just the better man that night, but I think it’s probably good for him to retire”.

“That’s the one that got away,” Edwards further said: “That’s the one I wished happened, the one that fans wished happened, everyone wished that fight happened. “For some reason, the UFC didn’t want to make it or tried making it and Masvidal turned it down. That’s the fight that definitely got away for sure”.