Leon Edwards EXCLUSIVE: UFC pushing for fight with Jorge Masvidal, hopefully at UFC 244 in Madison Square Garden
Last Saturday, Leon Edwards made a real statement by defeating former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in San Antonio.
The Jamaican-born Brit is now ranked fourth in the world at welterweight and has made it eight wins on the bounce.
Finally, it looks like the UFC are going to reward him with the high-profile contest he has earned and it's about time.
talkSPORT caught up with Rocky following his comprehensive victory over RDA to discuss his future plans.
How did it feel to go in there and essentially dominate a former world champion in RDA?
It felt amazing. To go half the way across the world and beat the former world champion in RDA, it felt good. And the fashion I did it, to outclass him anywhere the fight goes, it felt good. I got to prove my doubters wrong once again and now I'm on an eight-fight winning streak, second-most to the current champion. I'm sitting in a good spot and I'm just waiting for what's next.
Leon Edwards after securing victory against Rafael dos Anjos
Twitter is finally catching on to those vicious elbows you throw, aren't they!
Left-elbow Leon! [laughs]. It kept landing a treat. It's such a hard technique to defend. When you get into a grappling situation, the elbows are always there because it's such close range. It's a good move and I'm happy I added it to my arsenal. My last three opponents have been dropped by it or caught by it, it's a good technique.
Have the UFC told you anything about what's next? One would imagine it is either facing Jorge Masvidal in a welterweight title eliminator or facing the champion himself, Kamara Usman?
I haven't heard nothing since last Saturday about what's next. But I know Dana White came out this week and he said he'd like to make the fight, he likes the fight and it's a big fight so I think they will be pushing towards hopefully getting me and Jorge [Masvidal] done. If not, there's still those two fights. Jorge and [Kamara] Usman for the title. Aim is to go again by the end of the year, November. There's an event in the early part of November at Madisonn Square Garden in New York, so it would be good to get on that card and let's just see what they come up with and what they bring to me.
Usman is the current welterweight champion and he's the last man to beat you back in late 2015. What have you learned since that loss that you would take into a rematch?
I've learned leaps and bounds and I think back then I was only young. I was only 22/23-years-old and I was listening to other people about what I should do with my career so I picked myself up and went to America to train for the fight and it didn't pan out. Since then, I've gone back to my home town, my gym, I believed in my coaching staff, believed in my training partners and went on an eight-fight win streak. Before the Usman loss, I was doing the same things and believing in my team, but then I went to America to do a camp. And I lost, you know? So I think it was just a mental thing. Just believe in my team, training partners, believe in the UK and it's all panning out perfectly so far.
Do you think Masvidal is an emotional fighter and that's something you could potentially exploit when you meet?
He thinks he's a badman. He thinks he's some sort of gangster so he gets very emotional when you talk about him. Askren is Askren, I'm not Ben Askren and that will never happen to me. We'll see. He thinks he's all that. Just two fights ago, he was almost cut from the UFC when he was on a two, three-fight losing streak. He's put two wins together and now he's demanding title shots and it's crazy to me.
What kind of relationship do you have with the UFC or Dana White directly? It must be hard not to pick up the phone and say 'is eight wins not enough for a title shot?!'
I don't really ever speak to the UFC/Dana White directly, it's more my management team. It's weird. You get an eight-fight win streak put together, the second-most in the hardest division in the UFC... I should have had a title shot two or three fights ago. It's crazy. Like, what do those wins mean? What do the rankings mean? All it seems to me is that it's about social media. Chatting sh*t gets you a title shot.
For example, Ben Askren. He came in, got a weird decision over Robbie Lawler, and he got bumped up to number five in the world and that's just crazy, he hadn't fought anybody. It's all about your social media presence, I don't think it's much about fighting no more and no more about winning and who you beat, it's more about if you can talk crap on social media, they'll put you higher.
Being the highest ranked UK fighter in the UFC today, you're leading the charge for a country that is making great strides in the UFC. How great has it been to see the sport grow here and UK fighters grow in it?
MMA, since I started [in the UK], it has been growing leaps and bounds. Especially in my hometown of Birmingham. To see how far the sport has come in such a short period of time, it's amazing. More kids are going into MMA now, but back in the day it was boxing or football. Now they've got loads of kids going into MMA doing jujitsu, kickboxing and stuff like that. Like I said, there is amazing talent here in the UK. Amazing coaching here in the UK. We have to believe in ourselves from top to bottom and just keep going from there. We don't need to move to America anymore, I've proven that. Many fighters have proven that. All UK fighters need to do is believe in their team and where they're from and keep getting better.
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A lot of MMA pundits, ex-fighters and fans seemed to have gravitated towards you for just going about your business, collecting wins and earning your way up the ladder. Does that stuff mean a lot to you?
It's amazing to get acknowledged by your peers so it's good to see. I've proven you can still be yourself and get top 10, top five in the world so I want other fighters and kids to know that you can be yourself, work hard, dedicate yourself to it and you'll get to where you want to get to. You've got to trust the journey, trust in yourself and that's it really. That's all I've done. At one point I'm thinking 'Why not me? Why Am I not getting pushed? Other fighters are and I'm way better than them' but I've come to respect my journey and it's all paying off. Now we're only one fight away from a title shot and if not a title shot right now. So it's all good.
Hot off your big win, what are you going to do in your little break from training?
I'm going back to L.A in August to go chill for a bit. My team is already based in L.A., so I'm going to go over there, I've got a few meetings with them and I'm just going to chill for a bit. Apart from that, I'll be back training in a few weeks and back to the drawing board.