After literally years of being linked to a fight with one another, Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards look set to finally face each other at December’s UFC 269 card.
News of the potential booking was first reported by Ariel Helwani and comes well over two years after the two fighters were involved in a backstage fracas following a UFC event in London after Masvidal had beaten Darren Till and Edwards did the same against Gunnar Nelson.
The event is set to take place on December 11 at a venue yet to be determined, and will feature on the card also set to hold the lightweight world title fight between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier. A trilogy bout between flyweight king Brandon Moreno and Deiveson Figueiredo was also understood to be in line for the same event but reports indicate that will now be pushed back to UFC 270 on January 22.
The fight represents a shift for both Edwards and Masvidal. Initially it was ‘Gamebred’ who distanced himself from the potential booking as he chased a world title fight with Kamaru Usman, while Edwards has been the more reticent one lately and indicated that it was Usman or nothing for him next.
Masvidal, though, has now lost two successive fights to Usman and is in need of a rebound win to re-establish his 170-pound credentials — while Edwards appears to still be in search of the ‘big name’ win which could guarantee his own title bout.
Edwards last fought in June where he scored a unanimous decision win against Nate Diaz.
