Jorge Masvidal has pulled out of his fight with Leon Edwards at UFC 269 on December 11th due to an undisclosed injury suffered in training.
“Disappointed but honestly I knew this fraud didn’t want to fight me anyway,” Edwards wrote on Twitter after hearing the news of ‘Gamebred’s’ withdrawal. “He was just a stop off on the way to the title. The goal remains the same. Much needed family time now, @usman84kg i will see you soon.”
A fight between Masvidal and Edwards had been a long time coming after a heated rivalry sparked off between the two backstage at UFC Fight Night 147 in 2019.
While Masvidal was conducting a live post-fight interview in a corridor leading to the dressing rooms after a big KO win over Darren Till that night, Edwards had a few words to say as he walked past, which led to ‘Gamebred’ walking up to him and unleashing a brief series of punches before others intervened.
Edwards had been demanding to fight him in the Octagon ever since and two years later it looked like it was finally going to happen, until yesterday’s call-off.
It comes at a time when Edwards is perched on the edge of title contention, having compiled a 10-fight unbeaten run in the UFC over the past five years that includes wins over the likes of Nate Diaz, Rafael dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone and Gunnar Nelson.
As the No.3 ranked contender at 170lbs, Edwards could now find himself in a position to fight Kamaru Usman instead, though prior to his lengthy winning streak the current champion had defeated him by unanimous decision in 2015.
Other options for Edwards would include the man who just lost to Usman for the second time last weekend, Colby Covington or potentially Vicente Luque, who is ranked No.4 in the weight class.
However, it’s worth noting that after his loss on Saturday night, Covington actually called out his former teammate turned bitter rival Masvidal and suggested that he should drop out of his fight with Edwards in order to fight him instead.
With that in mind, it does now seem like the pieces are already falling into place to have Usman rematch Edwards, while Masvidal goes up against Covington.
