Leon
Edwards first bout since June 2019 did not go as planned.
After a solid opening stanza against Belal
Muhammad, Edwards inadvertantly poked his opponent in the eye,
ending the
UFC Fight Night 187 main event 18 seconds into Round 2. Due to
the foul, the fight was ruled a no contest.
Former interim welterweight champion Colby
Covington believes Edwards was fortunate to avoid a having a
loss added to his ledger, and as far as “Chaos” is concerned, the
English fighter still hasn’t broken his lengthy streak of
inactivity after that performance.
“He still hasn’t fought in two years. He has a no contest which, by
the way, that should have been a disqualification,” Covington told
Submission
Radio. “He did poke the guy in the face in the first round and
backstage I know that Herb Dean gave him the warning, ‘Hey, don’t
poke anyone in the eyes,’ because that’s the instruction they give
every time before you go out there and fight. He should have been
disqualified. I don’t know how that was a no contest. That being
said, he still hasn’t fought in two years. How is he still in the
rankings?”
After the fight, Edwards dismissed the possibility of an immediate
rematch with Muhammad and instead called for a 170-pound title
shot. Although Edwards entered UFC Fight Night 187 with an
eight-bout winning streak, it’s unlikely a championship opportunity
would arise coming off an incomplete performance if the promotion
hadn’t given him one already. According to Covington, a rematch
with he and Kamaru
Usman is still the fight to make.
“It’s hilarious,” Covington said. “I had some people say, ‘Oh, it’s
an accident!’ An accident is if one of the lights above the Octagon
falls in the Octagon and hits one of the fighters in the head. An
accident is if Herb Dean has a
heart attack in the octagon and he’s not able to ref so they call
the fight. That’s an accident. A second eye poke, a third eye poke,
those aren’t accidents. That should have been a disqualification.
The guy hasn’t won a fight in two years. He’s been turning down
fights left and right with multiple people behind me that are
nobodies. I’m the number one guy in the world, me and Marty
Fakenewsman have unfinished business.”
Edwards was initially supposed to face Khamzat
Chimaev at UFC Fight Night 187 before lingering issues from
COVID-19 forced Chimaev to withdraw from the event. After that, the
promotion looked into booking Covington against Edwards on short
notice, but the man known as “Chaos”
was not interested.
Covington said he would have accepted the bout if the UFC had made
a financial offer to his liking.
“It was going to be a price tag,” Covington said. “I wanted a
little bit more than was in my contract. I just wasn’t going to
show up for a normal paycheck to fight that guy. For me to come up
and show that up on short notice and fight that guy, you know, the
way I fight guys, I redline it every time I fight. So, when I
fight, you know you’re getting a Ferrari that’s coming forward,
high octane, high energy, and he’s coming to fight and bring the
fight. So, if I want to fight at my best, I need a full training
camp. So, that fight was never gonna happen unless the UFC was
gonna pay for it to happen.”