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Gilbert Burns Hits Back at Leon Edwards For Recent Comments

Published 08/24/2020, 11:44 AM EDT

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Gilbert Burns recently lashed out at Leon Edwards on social media after Edwards accused the former of ducking several fights that were offered to him in the past.

Burns, who is the top-runner in the title race, claims that he would have faced Edwards right at this point. However, the Brazilian doesn’t prioritize the matchup over an immediate title fight.

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While Edwards has bashed the entire welterweight roster for avoiding a fight against him, Burns has explained why it isn’t the case. Instead, he hit back at Edwards and claimed that he is the one who has been ducking the top-rated fights in the roster, including a title fight offer.

Well, things could have been smoother if Edwards had kept Burns aside. However, he trained his gun at the Brazilian and, and that did not sit well with Burns.

Gilbert Burns reveals why he won’t “whoop” Leon Edwards

Burns has made his way to the top after overcoming some of the best welterweights in the promotion. However, a title shot was nowhere to be seen until he defeated Tyron Woodley at Fight Night on May 30, 2020.

Leon Edwards has accused all the top-rated welterweights of avoiding him. To which, Burns says that it was the Briton himself who has been circumventing the offers.

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“With lies, multiple fights were offered to u n all declined, a title included,” wrote Burns on Twitter.

With respect to Burns’ statement, Edwards hasn’t competed for more than a year. ‘Rocky’ faced Rafael dos Anjos in his last appearance at UFC Fight Night on July 20th, 2019. He claimed the win via unanimous decision, extending his win streak to 8-0 in the UFC.

In the post-fight segment, Edwards also got into a hideous skirmish with Jorge Masvidal, who competed against Darren Till on the same card. While it intensified the entire welterweight scenario, Edwards surprisingly stood out and remained inactive for a long time.

The Welterweight title scenario

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Despite the inactivity, Edwards, the 3 ranked welterweight, is definitely relevant in the title race. However, with no potential opponent, he has been out of action for a year.

Meanwhile, the UFC 170lbs division has been progressing at light-speed. Masvidal, the 4 ranked welterweight, was granted a shot at the title against Kamaru Usman at UFC 251.

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After failing to capitalize the moment, the onus falls on Burns to relieve The Nigerian Nightmare of his strap. It leaves Edwards with no valid opponent other than Jorge Masvidal, since Colby Covington has also found his next rival in Tyron Woodley.

Thus, there’s no way we can witness Burns vs Edwards anytime soon inside the UFC cage. However, the duo hasn’t stopped kicking up a storm on social media.

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Written by:

Raj Sarkar

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A senior boxing writer at EssentiallySports, Raj Sarkar is a mass media graduate who is currently pursuing his master’s degree in broadcast journalism. In addition to his current role, he has worked with the MMA team at EssentiallySports and has interviewed prominent fighters such as Ritu Phogat and 'The Red King' Rory MacDonald. He combined his bachelor's degree with his adoration for combat sports and has a combined 2000 plus bylines in MMA and boxing over the last two years.
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