Shortly after Leon Edwards finished off Peter Sobotta at UFC Fight Night 127 in London, he turned his attention to a fellow Englishman who has a considerably higher profile in the welterweight division.
“Five in a row, top 15 in the world, I feel good. I’m looking forward to the next one,” Edwards said. “I called out Darren Till — it is what it is. There are no friends in this game. I’ll have a rest this weekend and then I want to go again in eight weeks. If they don’t give me Till in Liverpool, July in Vegas would be great. I want on that Stipe-DC card. I haven’t fought in the States for a while now so that would be good too. But whatever they give me, I’ll be ready to go.”
Till boosted his status with an impressive first-round technical knockout of Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 118 in October. That coupled with his brash personality, netted him a spot atop the promotion’s upcoming event in Liverpool, England, on May 27. An opponent for Till has not yet been named.
At Saturday’s post-fight press conference, Edwards doubled down on his request.
“That’s really what I want,” Edwards. “Like I said before, I’ve beaten top-ranked guys, better guys than Till’s fought, on the come-up. Somehow he leapfrogged me to get the Donald Cerrone fight, so it is what it is. I feel like I’m the No. 1 welterweight in the world, he thinks he’s the No. 1 welterweight in the world, so let’s prove it in May in Liverpool and go from there.”
Till is unbeaten in 17 professional outings overall, with the only blemish on his record being a draw against Nicolas Dalby at UFC Fight Night 76 in October 2015. Still, Edwards, whose five-bout winning streak is tied for the welterweight division’s third-longest active streak, is not especially impressed.
“From what I’ve seen, Darren is good on his front foot,” Edwards said. “He’s only good when he’s coming forward. When you back him up, he’s not as good. I’ve never seen him on his back, so I’ll test that out as well, but I feel I’ll go out there and I’ll beat him. He’s a standard Thai boxing style, he comes forward, arm guard wide, and there’s nothing that’s amazing to me when I watch Till. So everyone else thinks he’s the second coming of God, but I don’t.”
If the Till fight doesn’t come to fruition, Edwards expects to have to go to the United States to find a top-ranked opponent.
“There’s not many guys in the welterweight division who are on a five-fight win streak, so 100 percent, if not Till, I’ll push for the July card, DC-Stipe in Vegas,” Edwards said. “These guys won’t come over, the top-10 guys, they refuse to come over to the U.K. to fight me, so I feel I’ll have to go over to the States and hunt them down and try to get a fight there. So my next fight, if not Till, I’ll go to the States in July and push for a top-10 guy there.”