Jorge
Masvidal and Leon
Edwards will have to settle their differences another day.
UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell informed promotion
broadcast partner
ESPN on Wednesday that Masvidal has withdrawn from the
highly-anticipated UFC 269 clash due to an undisclosed injury.
According to
MMAFighting.com , Edwards is not expected to remain on the card
against a replacement opponent. Instead, the British welterweight
will seek a title shot against Kamaru
Usman.
If Edwards were to have a change of heart, he’d have several
willing suitors. Since news of Masvidal’s exit came to light,
Khamzat
Chimaev, Belal
Muhammad and Gilbert
Burns all expressed interest in facing Edwards on short notice.
UFC 269 takes place on Dec. 12 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and
is headlined by a lightweight title bout between Charles
Oliveira and Dustin
Poirier.
Edwards and Masvidal famously crossed paths at UFC Fight Night 147
in London on March 16, 2019. Masvidal defeated Darren Till
via second-round KO and Edwards took a split verdict over Gunnar
Nelson at the event, but it was
what happened backstage that really made headlines. Masvidal
was giving an interview when he began exchanging words with
Edwards, who was nearby. “Gamebred” then left the interview set to
confront the Englishman, and shortly thereafter the fighters
engaged in a brief altercation before being separated. That
incident led to Masvidal’s famous “three-piece with a soda” line,
but the two haven’t yet crossed paths since that incident.
The 30-year-old Edwards is unbeaten in his last 10 promotional
appearances, with a no contest against Belal
Muhammad the only blemish on his ledger during that time. Most
recently, the Team Renegade representative took a five-round
decision over Nate Diaz at
UFC 263. He also owns notable victories against the likes of
Rafael dos
Anjos, Donald
Cerrone and Vicente
Luque.
Masvidal, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back losses to Kamaru
Usman in welterweight championship bouts. “Gamebred” initially
stepped in on short notice to face Usman at UFC 251, where he
dropped a unanimous decision in July 2020. Because of those
circumstances, Masvidal was granted a rematch at UFC 261, and he
fell again to the champion — this time by second-round KO. Prior to
that, Masvidal authored a banner 2019 campaign that included
finishes of Diaz, Ben Askren
and Till.