Edwards doesn’t understand the title shot for Covington after a successful defense: I’m the king, I feel like I should pick a challenger

Leon Edwards confirmed Sunday after midnight that he is the rightful king of the UFC welterweight division. For he was able to defeat the previously dominant champion Kamara Usman for a second time and there can be no further doubt about his qualities. But there are doubts about the name of his next challenger. It’s supposed to be Colby Covington, and the Jamaican-born fighter isn’t happy about it either.

Edwards the undisputed king

The UFC welterweight division has a serious charge right now. It’s helped by the fact that there’s a new champion. That has been Leon Edwards since last August, when he stopped Kamara Usman in the fifth round with a hard high kick and took care of the shock.

But Usman was better in that fight. There was a lot of talk that it was just a fluke on Edwards’ part. And given Usman’s long dominance, it was certain that there had to be a rematch. It took place over the weekend in London and the Jamaican native deservedly won on points.

There can be no doubt about his place on the throne, and the fighters who were no match for Usman have a new chance. For example, Colby Covington, who was named as the next challenger by the organization’s boss Dana White.

Why Covington? Not even the champion understands

Covington hasn’t been enough to beat Usman twice, there’s no one in the current top ten at the weight that he can beat. In fact, he hasn’t even fought anyone in the top ten besides Usman. The last time he beat Jorge Masvidal was a year ago, and he’s now up to number eleven in the division.

So it’s a surprise that White pointed to Covington when there are fighters who are undoubtedly more deserving. Gilbert Burns, for example, who is active, takes on huge challenges and is not afraid of anything. Plus, he’s now facing Masvidal.

Or Khamzat Chimaev, who beat the aforementioned Burns. He also challenged Covington, a title fight he would certainly be interested in. But according to White, he’ll be fighting in his next fight at welterweight, not welterweight.

Anyway, the choice of Covington is not understood by Edwards either. “I don’t see what the point is. He hasn’t fought in over a year. He’s just been sitting around and he hasn’t even been hurt. I don’t understand how he sailed through to a title fight when there are other fighters who are active and have fought and haven’t sat on their asses,” MMA Fighting quotes him as saying.

“Like I said, I’m the king now. I had to fight it all. That’s why I feel I should be the one to decide who my next challenger is,” the champion added.

Source: UFC, MMA Fighting, Sherdog