English Welterweight Leon Edwards recently claimed that he offered to fight Neil Magny or Michael Chiesa on January 20th.
Edwards (18-3) was expected to face Khamzat Chimaev in December for the Las Vegas UFC card. Leon Edwards would have to withdraw from the fight after he tested positive for COVID-19. This month would’ve seen Edwards and Chimaev clash on January 20th, however it was Chimaev would had to withdraw on this occasion, leading UFC to bump Chiesa vs Magny to main event status on the card.
Leon Edwards confirmed on Instagram that he wanted to fight one of the two men who are now in the main event. ‘I offered to fight Neil or Chiesa in the main event Jan. 20 and Chimaev straight after, but the UFC decided against it.’
Both Magny and Chiesa are higher ranked than Chimaev, but the buzz surrounding the Russian-born Welterweight far surpasses that of both of the aforementioned fighters.
Leon Edwards
Edwards wanted to fight Magny or Chiesa and then go on to fight Chimaev. But as noted, the UFC would decline the offer and opt to bump Mangy vs Chiesa up to main event.
The English Welterweight Edwards is on an eight fight win streak, however his last fight in the UFC came back in July 2019. That fight saw Leon defeat Rafael dos Anjos. Edwards has had multiple fights cancelled or rescheduled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result he was briefly removed from the UFC rankings at Welterweight.
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