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Leon Edwards believes he’s paying the price for last minute of Diaz fight
In most instances riding a 10 fight winning streak in your division is enough to earn a title shot. This isn’t the case if your name is Leon Edwards, who believes the UFC are looking for reasons to delay or avoid granting Edwards a title shot.
UK standout Edwards last lost in the octagon in 2015 at the hands of current champion Kamaru Usman. Since then the Birmingham native has improved upon improved, outclassing all opposition to stand in his way including Vincente Luque, Rafael Dos Anjos and most recently fan favourite Nate Diaz.
Leon Edwards dominated the Stockton native in the promotions first five round fight outside a main event, showcasing his technical skills and leaving no doubt in anyone’s mind that he was ready for a shot at the title. However, fans now seem to ignore or forget the first 24 minutes of the fight due to Nate Diaz landing a hard shot which wobbled Edwards in the final minute of the fight, leading Diaz to point and laugh at Edwards sending social media into a frenzy.
Despite this moment, Diaz was unable to capitalise on the Brit, leading Edwards to win a one sided unanimous decision.
When asked on a recent episode of ”The MMA Hour” if he felt he was paying the price for the final minute of the Nate Diaz fight, Leon responded.
“For sure, 100%. As soon as I left the Octagon, I said this straight away to Tim and to my coaches, Fuck, I know they’re finding any excuse to not give me what I’ve earned. When that happened in the last minute, I was like, ‘Oh, fuck’s sakes. I know it’s gonna be a harder road now to get to my title shot. So I feel like they’re trying to use that as an excuse.”
Fans of the UK welterweight have long called for his deserved title shot but it now seems even Edwards himself is open to other options, citing the possibility of fighting Jorge Masvidal at the end of the year. A fight which Edwards wasn’t interested in, as he was determined to secure his shot and rematch at champion Kamaru Usman.
