Leon Edwards isn’t buying the legitimacy of the altercation between Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal.

Usman and Masvidal got testy during an event for the NFL Super Bowl LIV. Both men exchanged words and were separated before anything got physical. Usman is the reigning UFC welterweight champion and while nothing is official, the seeds certainly appear to be planted for a showdown with Masvidal.

Edwards spoke to ESPN and expressed his belief that Usman and Masvidal staged their altercation.


“Was it planned? Why are the cameras following him all the way to Usman?” Edwards said. “… It’s basically planned because they’re walking for like, a minute with a camera behind him. That’s this game we’re in right now, right? It’s the social media era and the WWE era. That’s the way the game is leading at the moment. It is what it is. I’m just focused on my career and doing what I need to do and being what I need to be to achieve what I need to achieve.

“You can tell that’s planned. The camera is walking behind him for a long way before he got to Usman so he was like, ‘Ah, we’re going to go do this.’”

Edwards had his own run-in with Masvidal back in March 2019. After exchanging words, the two men approached each other backstage at UFC London. Masvidal landed punches, causing cuts under Edwards’ eye and on the eyebrow.