‘That guy’s a freaking coward’ — Gilbert Burns slams Leon Edwards for avoiding Jorge Masvidal

UFC BMF champ Jorge Masvidal is desperate to get his hands on Leon Edwards, but ‘Rocky’ believes he should be next in line for a crack at the winner of the upcoming welterweight title bout between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington at UFC 268.

“My next fight will be for the world title I don’t want to hear nothing about a guy coming off 2 fight skid and Got ko his last fight,” Edwards posted on Twitter last month.

No. 2-ranked welterweight Gilbert Burns, however, thinks Edwards is ducking ‘Gamebred’ and labeled the Brit a ‘coward’ for turning down the fight.

Burns thinks Edwards, who is on a nine-fight win streak, should want to get his own back against Masvidal after the latter hit him with a ‘three-piece and a soda’ during their 2019 backstage altercation at London’s O2 Arena.

“I think stylistically (Masvidal) is a good fight for Leon Edwards,” Burns told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in a recent interview (h/t SportsKeeda). “Bro, the guy hit you with a three-piece and a soda, and you’ve been asking for this fight for years. Now, the guy says yes, and you say no? Man, that guy’s a freaking coward.”

While Burns thinks Edwards must fight Masvidal to salvage his reputation, former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier has advised the Brit to stick to his guns and wait for a title shot.

“Why in the world should Leon Edwards now wanna look back to you guys?” Cormier said. “And I’m saying ‘you guys’ because Gilbert Burns, too. Gilbert Burns is guilty of this. (Masvidal and Burns) did not want to talk about Leon Edwards at all when they were the ones on the shortlist of a championship fight. Now, Leon is in that position and they wanna call him out. No, Leon. ‘Rocky’ ,get the title shot that you so justly deserve. Don’t waste your time.”

Edwards, 30, last fought at UFC 263 where he beat Nate Diaz via unanimous decision. He is currently #3 in the UFC welterweight rankings.