UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards says he will not accept a fight with Colby Covington next: “This Dana White privilege is definitely real”

UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards doesn’t plan on fighting Colby Covington next.

‘Rocky’ returned to the octagon over the weekend in the main event of UFC 286. The welterweight champion faced Kamaru Usman in a follow-up to their historic clash last August. In that outing, Edwards won the title via fifth-round knockout.

At The O2 Arena last Saturday night, the Brit made it 2-1 in his favor. Edwards ultimately proved his first win wasn’t an aberration by defeating the former champion by a majority decision. While the welterweight titleholder was likely the one most happy with the result, Colby Covington likely isn’t far behind.

‘Chaos’ attended UFC 286, even weighing in as the backup fighter for the headliner. Following the event, Dana White announced that Covington would be fighting for gold next, which surprised many fans. The former interim champion has been out for over a year and is 2-2 in his last four octagon appearances.

If Leon Edwards has a say in his next opponent, don’t expect it to be Colby Covington. On The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, the welterweight champion stated he had no plans to fight ‘Chaos’.

Edwards stated Covington receiving a title shot was “Dana White privilege”, a term made popular by Tony Ferguson last May. The champion noted that when he was inactive, he was removed from the rankings. Meanwhile, Covington is receiving a title shot.

“I definitely have a say,” Leon Edwards said on The MMA Hour. “Listen, he ain’t getting a title shot next, right. Look at the road I had to take to get there. There’s no way you’re getting beat twice by the guy that I just beat twice, went out and beat [Jorge] Masvidal, and then sit out for a year and a half. Not even tweeting or nothing, just go missing for a year and then randomly pops up at the weigh-ins and it’s like, ‘OK, he’s fighting for the title next.’ It makes no sense at all. So let’s see how it plays out, he has to go out there and earn his way like I had to do.”

He continued, “Khamzat [Chimaev] and me were calling each other out for years. This is a guy that I got matched up with three times in a row. I took the [Chimaev] fight and [Covington] didn’t take the fight and he’s getting rewarded for not taking the fight. When it was me, I got removed from the rankings. So ‘Dana White privilege’ is definitely real.”

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