Jorge Masvidal has already told Leon Edwards there’s no point in calling him out anymore. But, the rising welterweight, not surprisingly, still continues to field questions about fighting his rival.
Edwards and Masvidal have been feuding online and through the media for months now, due to their well documented, backstage scuffle in March. After Edwards worked his way to an impressive, decision win over Rafael dos Anjos on Saturday, he called for a fight with “Gamebred’. On account of Masvidal’s historically fast, knockout of Ben Askren, however, the rugged fighter’s relayed he’s waiting for a shot at the 170 belt.
Well, since it remains to be seen if Masvidal will in fact, get tapped for a title shot, talk about him fighting Edwards hasn’t gone away. Case in point, during a recent episode of the Eurobash podcast, Edwards had this to say about his rival (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I’m one of the worst matchups for him,” said Edwards. “He’s nothing compared to RDA; I believe that RDA is a way better fighter than him. I believe that he knows that once he’s locked in the cage with me he’s got no chance of winning that fight and that would be his title dream gone. He’s doing everything he can to hold onto that little spot that he’s got to get a title shot, but I don’t think he deserves it. He needs to fight me.”
“Just after it happened when I went on social media, people were like, ‘He’s not about that life,’ and, ‘He’s scared’ — those people don’t have a clue about my life, what I’ve been through and what I’m like. It’s laughable to me, I laugh at those comments. [Masvidal] is a weasel, he’s not on my level, I’ll school him when the time comes, and I’ll show the world again that I’m the best fighter in the world.”
How about that? Now, is dos Anjos a better fighter than Masvidal? Some might say yes, sure. He was a lightweight champ and holds notable wins over the likes of Kevin Lee, Robbie Lawler, Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz, Benson Henderson and Anthony Pettis among others. That said, two of those wins came at 170, and Masvidal’s coming off emphatic, KO wins over Askren and Darren Till.
Now, would anyone argue that RDA is “way better” than Masvidal? That seems much less likely. Masvidal’s incured his fair share of losses, but he hasn’t been finished in over ten years.