When Leon Edwards watched UFC 287 in April, he witnessed the fleeting final moments of his chance to settle a grudge against Jorge Masvidal disappear like steam in the ether.
The infamous backstage brawl between the two fighters at a UFC London event in 2019 seemed to set the stage for a final showdown between them, with Masvidal throwing several punches at Edwards before security intervened. In the end, the fight never materialized, but after Edwards became the UFC welterweight champ this past August, he had the slightest hope that Masvidal could revive himself as a legitimate contender until they could finally settle their differences in the octagon.
Sadly, Masvidal lost a unanimous decision to Gilbert Burns at UFC 287 and then announced his retirement from the sport, which ended any potential shot for Edwards.
“This was the fight to be done even after [Ben] Edwards told MMA Fighting when asked about Masvidal. “This was the struggle to take on right away, but for some reason they didn’t want to.
“I suspect [at UFC 287]Show his age. Is what, 37 or 38? It looked slow there. He tired out a round or so. I don’t think either of them looked great, him or Gilbert. Gilbert was the best man that night, but I think it’s good for him to retire.”
After that 2019 event in London and Masvidal’s stunning five-second flying knee knockdown on Ben Askren, “Gamebred” shot to stardom, pursuing bigger and bigger opportunities including two attempts to become UFC Champion.
Through it all, Edwards continued to go after Masvidal as his most coveted fight because he wanted a chance to settle the score after the bad blood between them ended.
Despite his best attempts, Edwards says the UFC never really showed much interest, and even when the idea was eventually mooted, he claims Masvidal wasn’t interested.
“That’s the one that got away,” Edwards said. “This is the thing that I wished would happen, that the fans wished would happen, everyone wished this fight would happen.
“For some reason, the UFC didn’t want to do it or try to do it and Masvidal turned it down. This is the fight that definitely got away.”
Masvidal’s career ended on a four-game losing streak after he fell to Kamaru Usman twice in consecutive title shots, and then in subsequent setbacks against friend and former teammate Colby Covington as well as a loss to Burns that led to Masvidal’s retirement. .
After losing in April, Masvidal admitted he didn’t feel the same way after 20 years of fighting and knew it was time to call it a career.
“I signed up to fight the best of the best in the world, and I feel like I don’t exist anymore,” Masvidal said. “You lost that move. So it’s time to pass on the torch.”
Even if Masvidal wasn’t at his absolute best in April, Edwards was still rooting for him to win because he wanted that fight so badly that he didn’t really care whether the first-ever UFC champ “The BMF” really deserved a title against him.
Of course, Edwards believes the outcome against Masvidal would have been the same regardless of whether they met four years ago after a UFC brawl in London or more recently after “Rocky” claimed his title as the world’s No. 1 welterweight.
“I wanted to hit him,” Edwards said. “Looks like this or whatever it sounded like, even after Askren, I just wanted to put a whoop on him and that was it.
“Whether he’s the best Jorge or not, technically he’s not as good as me. He’s no better than me. I just wanted to beat him, but unfortunately I won’t get a chance in the octagon.”