Leon Edwards has denied the suggestion that the UFC has offered to pay him to step aside and allow Conor McGregor to challenge for the welterweight title.
Edwards has been named by UFC president Dana White as the next challenger to Kamaru Usman’s belt, although that fight has not yet been announced.
Edwards, who was outpointed by Usman in 2015, is seeking to become the second ever British champion in UFC history by following in the footsteps of Michael Bisping.
McGregor, however, has expressed his desire to challenge Usman later this year in a bid to become the first ever three-weight champion in UFC history. The Irishman is recovering from a broken leg that he sustained in his last bout, a loss to Dustin Poirier in July, and wants to add to the featherweight and lightweight belts that he held simultaneously in 2016.
And former UFC middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen said on his YouTube channel this week: “I am being told that Leon has been offered his show and his win [money]; whatever was negotiated for Leon to fight Kamaru is being offered to him [to step aside for McGregor].
“‘We will mail you a cheque to step aside. We have the right to push you aside, we don’t want any hard feelings, and we acknowledge that you deserve this. So, we are going to send you what you agreed on, and you get to stay home.’
“With the belief being that Conor’s going to step in,” Sonnen explained.
Edwards, however, played down the rumour, tweeting a series of laughing emojis and the words: “Chael what the f*** you on about.”
Sonnen, for his part, also said: “I don’t believe this rumour by the way, I’m just sharing with you: Any time you don’t have something locked up... Leon [vs Usman] is not done. There are some real moving parts there.”
