Leon Edwards says he is down for a champion vs. champion matchup with Islam Makhachev — but says that timing may not be right for it. 

Edwards, the UFC’s welterweight champion, has his hands full ahead of a UFC 304 title defence against former opponent Belal Muhammad that headlines the organisation’s return to Manchester, England on July 27. After tha, though, the Birmingham native has made clear he is looking for legacy fights.

One possible venture he proposed would be a title bout with Conor McGregor in Madison Square Garden later this year — and another option, he said, would be the UFC’s lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who last weekend reiterated his desire to pursue a second world title in the welterweight division.

And while Edwards says that this is an interesting proposal, he said that both fighters may have some more work to do in their respective weight categories before this could become a reality.

“I’ll welcome it,” Edwards said during a recent interview with Sky Sports.

“I think we’ve all got work to do in our division,” he added. “Let’s say we both go on this reign. Then why not? He just fought his first lightweight, actual lightweight. First defence against an actual lightweight. So, I feel like there’s a few more lightweights he has to go through first before even thinking about moving up.

“But like I said, if we’re both going on this reign, then why not run it in the future? We’re both similar age, 32-years-old. So, we’ll have time to get it done, for sure.”

But if all of this sounded like the fight was too unrealistic, Edwards vowed that where there is a will, there is a way.

“It’s a massive fight,” he said. “Like I said, I’ve got work to do in my division first, then the super fights will come, you know, definitely.”