After being down 3-1 in the scorecards, Leon Edwards pulled off literally a last-minute knockout win over Kamaru Usman at the headliner of UFC 278. “Rocky” has now evened the score with the “Nigerian Nightmare,” and according to UFC president Dana White, a third fight will likely happen between the two.
But another player has entered the conversation. Shortly after Edwards’ upset KO, “BMF” champion Jorge Masvidal made his intentions known to challenge the newly-minted champion. And he did it in a subtle way that brought up that bit of history between him and Edwards.
Jorge Masvidal references the infamous three piece and a soda on his Instagram story #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/P1L31xXC4A
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) August 21, 2022
“Gamebred” was referencing his backstage scuffle with “Rocky” in London in 2019. Masvidal sucker-punched Edwards with a punch combination, which he then dubbed the “three-piece and a soda.”
Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards exchange words and punches backstage during the ESPN+ post-show pic.twitter.com/kYEkWxN8Io
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 16, 2019
In a June interview, Edwards said he was willing to “give” Masvidal the title shot, as he seemingly manifested his Saturday win.
“I’ll give him the title shot, that’d be a fantastic fight in the UK. Bring it back to the O2 where it happened, for the title. That’s the one to do next, that’s the best,” Edwards said at the time.
“If that happens in the UK, sure. Like I said my dream scenario would be to bring it back to London and to headline London. So I want to come back home and then do it, so yeah.”
Masvidal hasn’t fought since his UFC 272 loss to Colby Covington. And according to former title contender Gilbert Burns, Masvidal already verbally agreed to a fight against him at UFC 283. The organization has yet to make things official.
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