"This is what happens when you're King"– Josh Thomson and 'Big' John McCarthy react to Leon Edwards telling Jorge Masvidal to "get on his knees and beg" for a title shot

After receiving a callout from Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards put the veteran in his place and demanded that he beg for a title shot, which both Josh Thomson and 'Big' John McCarthy believed was the right response.

On August 20, the Brit realized his dream and captured the UFC welterweight title by defeating one of the greatest 170lbers to ever grace the sport, Kamaru Usman.

During an episode of the Weighing In podcast, former mixed martial arts referee John McCarthy gave his opinion on Leon Edwards' comments:

"Hey, this is what happens when you're King. For a while there, Masvidal, although he wasn't the champ, he could dictate who he was gonna fight and all that, [but] now [the] shoe's on the other foot. Masvidal's trying, I give him credit, he's trying, but he's got no f***ing sway in this... Why would a champion take on a guy that's got multiple losses in a row? Doesn't make sense."

Josh Thomson also had his say on the matter. He claimed that the newly crowned welterweight champion won't fight 'Gamebred' after previously being ignored by the 37-year-old for years after their backstage altercation in 2019. Thomson stated:

"Leon's not gonna fight him. Leon's like, 'Nah, man. You wasn't even hearing me when I was saying hey, you f***ing hit me in the back, I wanna get it back, let's go.' Leon's the champ, he's not the BMF champ, he's not the guy who fought for the title three times... He's gonna use that to his advantage."

Check out what the pair had to say about Leon Edwards' decision in the video below:

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What's next for Leon Edwards?

Since becoming champion, there has been a lot of talk as to who Leon Edwards will make his first title defense against.

A Kamaru Usman trilogy remains the standout option for the Birmingham-native. But after the devastating knockout of Usman, it may be some time before the two get booked to face one another.

The aforementioned Jorge Masvidal is always going to have his name mentioned due to his past with the champ, but another potential matchup for the Englishman could be the surging Khamzat Chimaev. Chimaev ran through Kevin Holland at UFC 279 this September to remain undefeated in his professional MMA career.