'You got knocked out with a jab' - Leon Edwards lashes out at Gilbert Burns for questioning his 'hunger' to become champion
There's a new budding rivalry in the UFC welterweight division as Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns engaged in a couple of barbs over Twitter. It all started when Burns commented on Leon's fight against Nate Diaz at UFC 263.
'Rocky' didn't take too kindly to Burns' comments and took to Twitter to respond. He reminded the Brazilian fighter of his knockout loss against Kamaru Usman and mocked him for getting knocked out with a jab. He added a hashtag saying #nochinburns for good measure.
Take a look at the tweet below:
Burns' original comments were in an interview with SCMP MMA where he said that Leon wasn't hungry enough for the title shot. However, he did compliment Edwards' performance and said that he looked good out there. Burns called 'Rocky' a smart fighter but said he wasn't a finisher:
“I think Leon Edwards lost the shot just because he didn’t get a finish. He wasn’t hungry. Not even criticizing the guy. I think he fought very good. He’s a very smart fighter. But he’s not a finisher. If you go all day and sometimes just, as they say, bite the mouthpiece, and go forward, and finish the fight, sometimes you’re gonna get the shot."
Watch the full interview with Gilbert Burns here:
While Edwards did beat 'The Stockton Slugger,' a potential reason for him not getting a title shot could be Diaz's late flurry that rocked him.
Also read: 3 reasons why Leon Edwards is still waiting on a UFC title shot
Leon Edwards barely survived the fifth round against Nate Diaz
Diaz and Edwards' UFC 263 five-round war was one of the best fights on the card. Edwards dominated the bout for the first four rounds and was edging towards a unanimous decision victory.
However, Diaz brought the roof down when he hit Edwards with a left cross in the final minutes of the fight that left him rocked and wobbly. The Stockton native proceeded to mock Leon Edwards but couldn't finish the fight.
Still, his fans were happy after the bout, and the display hurt Edwards' chances of getting a title shot against the welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.