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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Leon Edwards of Jamaica rests in his corner after defeating Peter Sobotta of Poland by TKO in their welterweight bout inside The O2 Arena on March 17, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
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LONDON, ENGLAND – MARCH 17: Leon Edwards of Jamaica rests in his corner after defeating Peter Sobotta of Poland by TKO in their welterweight bout inside The O2 Arena on March 17, 2018 in London, England. (Photo by Brandon Magnus/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Leon Edwards has made more noise in the last few months than he had all year. Despite being booked to face Tyron Woodley (before Woodley lost his last two fights) and an opportunity to get a title shot, Edwards has yet to step into the Octagon. Due to lockdown rules in his home country of England, Edwards has been unable to train for possible fights.
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With growing dissatisfaction between Edwards and the UFC, the parties couldn’t come to terms on a fight. This led to the UFC pulling Edwards from the rankings. After Edwards was confirmed to face Khamzat Chimaev in the main event of the final card of the year, he was restored to his position as the number three fighter in the Welterweight division.
Ariel Helwani asked Edwards about the move and how he took it.
“I don’t know. We were in negotiations, they took my rankings and then put them back. I don’t know, it is a weird thing. I don’t know.”
The UFC removing Edwards mid-negotiation is odd. Most likely, it was a move to strong-arm Edwards into taking a fight against the unranked Chimaev.
Leon Edwards continues his upwards trajectory
While Chimaev may have a lot of hype behind him, let’s not forget that Leon is on an 8-fight winning streak. “Rocky” has been without an opponent for most of the year and now gets to close the year out with a bang against one of the most hyped names in the promotion.
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SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – JULY 20: Leon Edwards of Jamaica reacts after defeating Rafael Dos Anjos of Brazil by unanimous decision in their welterweight bout during the UFC Fight Night event at AT&T Center on July 20, 2019 in San Antonio, Texas. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Chimaev is un-ranked, so a win over Edwards would boost him to the top. However, Edwards beating Chimaev won’t have the same result. Even though Leon believes he will get a title shot next, that is completely up to the whims and fancies of the UFC.
The decision to remove Edwards from the rankings makes sense now. Either it was to strong-arm Edwards into the fight, or it was to build a narrative. The ranking removal has become a big talking point, which has gotten people further excited about this match-up. Hopefully, Edwards can stick to his word and prove that Chimaev is over-hyped.