One day after his UFC main event was postponed along with two other fight cards because of the coronavirus pandemic, Leon Edwards said Tuesday that he’s hopeful his fight with former welterweight champion Tyron Woodley will be rebooked once the UFC resumes operations.
“This fight’s not going nowhere,” Edwards told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani during an Instagram Live appearance. “It’ll be rescheduled, hopefully back in London. Hopefully, I get to do it in my hometown, my home country, and show the world that I am the best welterweight in the world.”
His fight against Woodley had been scheduled for next Saturday in London.
Edwards, who is from Birmingham, England, said he has not been told by the UFC that the fight will happen. He is relying on the wording used by promotion president Dana White on Monday in announcing that the fights are off.
“It was postponed,” said Edwards, “not canceled.”
Edwards (18-3) actually bowed out of the fight Sunday, after the UFC told him that the event was being moved from London to a still-unknown location in the United States and he had three hours to get to the airport.
Once Edwards’ management told the UFC that he could not make it in time, the promotion began seeking another opponent for Woodley (19-4-1) before postponing the event, along with fight cards on the two weekends to follow.
Among the fighters who offered to fill in as an opponent for Woodley was Colby Covington, and his interest sparked renewed animosity between him and Woodley. After the event was canceled, Woodley posted on Instagram that when the UFC resumes, he wants to fight Covington. “Don’t want to hear another name!” he wrote.
Edwards said he was “devastated” by the postponement and not surprised that Woodley wants to move on.
“He didn’t want to fight me anyway,” Edwards said. “From the get-go, he’s made every excuse in the book why he doesn’t want to fight me. He knows what’s gonna happen. As soon as he had an opportunity to run, he ran straight away.”
But Edwards still believes the Woodley fight will happen.
“This is one of the biggest fights of my career,” Edwards said. “I’ve been dreaming of headlining a UFC event in my hometown, in my home country, since I started MMA.”