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The professional feud between Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal turned into an intensely personal rivalry on March 16th, 2019. It was on this date that the two stars clashed in a backstage brawl after the UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal event at the O2 Arena in London, England.
In the event, Leon Edwards beat Gunnar Nelson via split decision, while Jorge Masvidal defeated Darren Till via second-round KO.
Masvidal later participated in a backstage interview with ESPN’s Laura Sanko when he was interrupted by Edwards.
According to Masvidal, Edwards passed by and said something about wanting to fight him that July. ‘Gamebred’ proceeded to walk towards Edwards with his hands behind his back, but things escalated when both fighters got within striking distance.
Jorge Masvidal later claimed that Leon Edwards walked towards him with his hands raised. This is why he landed his now-iconic ‘3 piece with the soda’ boxing combination on Edwards’ face.
Masvidal is currently looking to return to title contention. He recently spoke to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour and stated:
“Get me the fight that gets me the fastest and closest to the title shot. Who is the highest-ranked, most dangerous fight? Tell me who it is, and put a price on their head.”
In response to these comments, Leon Edwards took to his Twitter account to suggest that Jorge Masvidal could fight him but is afraid to do so:
“You know who it is. Scared to say my name”
Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal have their sights set on UFC gold
Leon Edwards’ most recent fight was a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 in June 2021. Edwards outworked Diaz for the majority of the fight but was stunned by his opponent's punches late in the fifth and final round. ‘Rocky’ somehow managed to survive till the final bell.
Edwards’ momentum might have been negatively affected due to the way the fight ended. Regardless, he’s still likely to challenge the winner of the upcoming UFC welterweight title rematch between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington.
Meanwhile, Jorge Masvidal’s last fight was a second-round KO loss against UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 261 in April 2021.
Masvidal now has two consecutive losses to the champion. Nevertheless, he has vowed to do whatever it takes to earn another title shot.
