Not too long ago in the United Kingdom, Leon Edwards and Jorge Masvidal came face-to-face, with Masvidal landing a few blows on “Rocky”. While everyone thought UFC would immediately book a fight between the two, Masvidal will now face Ben Askren, while Leon Edwards is looking for a new challenge.

Edwards has been on a tear recently, with his last loss coming to the current UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman back in 2015. Leon (17-3 MMA, 9-2 UFC) has won all of his seven previous fights, which included wins over notable names such as Donald Cerrone and Gunnar Nelson.

“Rocky” now wants to conquer a steeper challenge, and either wants Robbie Lawler or Rafael Dos Anjos. However, he also said that Jorge turned out the opportunity to fight him.

“That was the fight to make”, Leon Edwards said during this week’s Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show (transcript via MMAMania). “I think the UFC offered Masvidal the fight and he turned it down. It is what it is. I will see him again and his day will come.

“From what I have heard, they offered him the fight and he turned it down. Clearly the man don’t want this smoke. So it is what it is. I was ready to go straight away in June. They offered him the fight and he turned it down. Now, here we are. I am looking for another top five and go from there.”

Looking ahead, Leon also spoke about wanting to fight someone like Robbie Lawler, or even Rafael dos Anjos, who recently defeated Kevin Lee, at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi.

“Why not step up and take on a former champion like Robbie Lawler. I’m on a seven-fight win streak, so it would be good for him to redeem himself. So I thought, ‘Why not?’ Give me six weeks and I will go out there, beat him and then a title shot.”

UFC 242 will roll out from Abu Dhabi, with Khabib Nurmagomedov expected to face Dustin Poirier in a title unification bout.