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In the world of mixed martial arts (MMA), trash talking, and callouts are commonplace. However, when Colby Covington, a former interim welterweight champion in UFC, issued an ultimatum to Leon Edwards, it was clear that the stakes had been raised.
Covington has been very vocal in his desire to fight Edwards, who is currently ranked #1 in the welterweight division, ever since Dana White publicly announced that the American is next to face Leon Edwards in his second title defense bout.
Whereas Edwards has his plans. He has accused Colby Covington of being privileged as he doesn’t stand next in line for the title statistically. With a potential fight between Burns and Masvidal scheduled, the Englishman must be looking at the winner for his next fight.
Now, Covington has threatened to have Edwards stripped of his title if he continues to refuse to fight him. He said that the welterweight champion has no power to make any changes to the situation.
"He gets stripped, he gets stripped of the title. He will get stripped. He's not the draw in this division, Mike, I'm the draw. Look at the numbers over the weekend, I didn't even fight, and my numbers towered over the main event."
Chaos again mentioned that in his opinion, Rocky is not appealing and fails to offer the same or more entertainment factor in comparison to him. The 35-year-old said that the winner has no opportunity to make decisions and cited Conor McGregor, a former two-division fighter, as an example, saying:
"There's no personality, no charisma. Same thing with Marty [Kamaru Usman], you know. Marty needs a belt to be relevant, he's not relevant either. Neither one of them are relevant, so for Leon to sit there and act like he's Conor McGregor. You're not Conor McGregor, bro. You don't get to call the shots, dude, like, you're a nobody."
This is not the first time that Covington has used aggressive tactics to secure a fight. In 2019, he called out Usman after winning his interim title, and the two eventually faced off in one of the most highly anticipated fights of the year. While Covington lost that fight, he has continued to be a major player in the welterweight division and has been looking for his next big challenge.
The question now is whether Covington's ultimatum will have any effect on Edwards. If Edwards does agree to the fight, it could be a major opportunity for him to prove that he is among the best welterweights in UFC. Whatever he decides, however, one thing is clear: the drama and excitement in the welterweight division of the UFC are far from over.