Leon Edwards will not forgive Jorge Masvidal after the pair clashed backstage at The O2 arena in London after a UFC event in 2019.
Back then, Masvidal was the rising main-event star, and was just two stoppage wins away from a set of world title opportunities. And he had one of his most infamous moments when he punched Edwards backstage with a combination he would later label the 'three piece and a soda' while the Brit was being interviewed.
Now, the tables have turned, and Edwards is the main player at welterweight after knocking out Kamaru Usman to win the title this summer, while Masvidal is on a three-fight losing skid. And the Birmingham native has no interest in allowing bygones to be bygones with his rival, insisting that he won't forgive him.
After noting that "it's all love" with opponents after he fights them during a recent appearance on The Breakfast Club, Edwards was forced to clarify that does not apply to Masvidal, with whom he was due to fight at the end of 2021. Host Charlamagne Tha God asked if that philosophy included backstage brawls, and Edwards responded that the pair have a legitimate feud.
"With Masvidal, that's what it is, that's beef," he insisted. "I don't like him, backstage we had a scuffle and threw a few shots. That was in London as well, my hometown. They took him, moved him and hid him and flew him out the country and I ain't seen him since - that was like three years ago.
"Apart from that, everyone else, as soon as we fight then backstage it's like 'good luck with your life, your family, the career'. It's all love, martial arts is all just discipline, it does humble you because some days you're the hammer and some days you're the nail, so you are humbled. You take a little skinny kid that's 16-years-old who's good at jiu-jitsu and they're choking you out, it does humble you a lot."
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Edwards explained the situation with he and Masvidal, detailing the plan was for them to fight around that time; although they ultimately ended up going down different paths. He faced Rafael Dos Anjos the following summer before being forced out by coronavirus restrictions and illness for almost two years, and his rival landed a star-making knockout against Ben Askren.
"It's just what happened backstage," he continued. "We had, like, a little back-and-forth on Twitter and he fought at The O2 in London, so did I. I was co-main event, him and Darren Till was co-main event, I won my fight and he won his fight as well so we were meant to fight each other after that fight.
"As we were walking past each other a little scuffle happened and from then we just never got on and that's just it - I can't let it go, that was like three years ago! It's not let go, I have to get it back either in the octagon or on the street, it has to be the get back."
