After receiving criticisms about his plan to move to the middleweight, Leon Edwards cleared up that this is not his main goal right now. According to the current welterweight champ, the current target is to beat Georges St-Pierre’s record, noting he has “to stick around welterweight to do that.”
The Briton was welcomed with disapprovals from various fighters after sharing the intent to enter the middleweight. One includes light heavyweight fighter Anthony Smith, who said that “Rocky” only wants to move because Khamzat Chimaev is not the current middleweight champion. Welterweight fighter Stephen Thompson also expressed slammed the plan, calling it “crap,” noting that their division has a lot of interesting fighters to offer.
With all the flak, Edwards clarified that his main goal is to make a mark in his current division and, hopefully, exceed the legendary GSP.
“It’s not an immediate goal,” Edwards told MMA Fighting in an interview. “I’ve got goals in my life. One of them is being the best welterweight of all time. I want to beat [Georges St-Pierre’s] record. I’ve got him down as the GOAT. I have to stick around welterweight to do that.
Yet, the champ didn’t deny that excelling in another weight class would also be something he would want to have in his record in the future. And for that to happen, it means winning over Colby Covington, to whom he should successfully defend his belt from today. According to the 32-year-old, the concrete path is to continue his winning streak, make 10 title defenses, and pursue the middleweight before he exits his career.
“I feel like I’m in the prime of my career, prime of my life,” Edwards said. “I’m 12 fights in a row now, I haven’t lost in eight years, almost nine years. I’m going for a second title defense. I’m only 32 years old. So I feel like that’s definitely doable.”
