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Leon Edwards’ UFC welterweight title might be up for grabs soon
Leon Edwards wrested the UFC welterweight title away from Kamaru Usman back at UFC 278 in August 2022. He won the belt, ending a long period of dominance for Usman, via a Hail Mary headkick in the fifth round.
Edwards then defended the title against Usman at UFC 286 in March. That match didn’t feature a highlight finish, but still saw Edwards show he had surpassed Usman as the best welterweight in the company. He won that fight via majority decision (due to a point deduction).
Since then, Edwards’ most likeliest challenger has been number two ranked Colby Covington. Though, that fight has taken some time to materialize.
However, Edwards’ manager Tim Simpson has now revealed that Edwards vs. Covington is finally just about set. He claimed the pair are now due to meet in either November or December.
Here’s Simpson talking to Submission Radio about the long awaited match-up.
“It’ll be before the end of the year,” said Simpson, confirming that Leon Edwards vs. Colby Covington is the next UFC welterweight title fight. “I guess the two cards left are November and December and they’re still finalizing those. Leon is good. He is ready to go. From my understanding, Colby is ready to go as well.”
Simpson added that the UFC was just “shuffling a few pieces” before they could make the final announcement.
Colby Covington has been on the shelf for a minute
We haven’t seen Colby Covington in the UFC Octagon since March 2022, when he took a dull and anti-climatic decision win over Jorge Masvidal. That match-up delivered fireworks on either man’s Twitter pages and all the press conferences leading up to the bout. But the fight itself petered out into a boring and predictable victory for the wrestler Covington.
Prior to his win over Masvidal, Covington (who has only fought once a year since 2020) took a TKO (injury) win over Tyron Woodley and dropped two fights (a TKO and a unanimous decision) to previous champion Kamaru Usman.
After his win over Masvidal, Covington was allegedly attacked by Masvidal outside a Miami steakhouse. That attack, which is said to have chipped Covington’s tooth, lead to assault charges for Masvidal.
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