Leon Edwards: “I am willing to fight whoever as long as they deserve it”

Since reigning UFC Welterweight Champion Leon Edwards established his rule with the first defense of his championship, the debate over his next opponent has raged on.

Colby Covington, the event's backup main-event fighter, was waiting in queue after Edwards' second victory against Kamaru Usman, a majority decision victory at the pay-per-view hosted in London this past March.

Despite "Chaos" losing two championship matches in his last four trips inside the Octagon and not fighting in over 14 months, UFC President Dana White fiercely defended that choice.

Edwards recently criticised all of the top competitors in the division for not demonstrating why they should have the next chance to compete for the welterweight title, not just the #2-ranked contender.

In preparation for his anticipated second defence later this year, Edwards evaluated the current 170-pound scene during a recent interview.

"These guys want to sit out, complain, and moan about the title shot without fighting," Edwards said. "I had to do 10 in a row to get my title shot.

These guys are coming off one win, one loss, one win... demanding title shots. I feel like they should fight each other. Either Colby versus (Gilbert) Burns or Belal (Muhammad) versus Colby. However they wanna do it. Whoever wins, that's me next.

"The UFC hasn't spoke to us and there's no talks of that fight (Covington) happening. He's just talking just to talk... This is the guy that sat out for over a year, turned down fight after fight," Edwards continued. "I (accepted) Khamzat (Chimaev) when no one wanted to fight Khamzat... I am willing to fight whoever, whenever, as long as they deserve it.

Who do you think Edwards should fight next? Comment and let us know