"You have to be interesting!" - Chael Sonnen slams Leon Edwards over calling for a big fight
Leon Edwards is ranked No.3 at Welterweight and could just be a fight away from a title shot. However, there's no denying that he has the least buzz about him in the top five rankings.
Leon Edwards is on an eight-fight win streak and last suffered a defeat in late 2015 to current Champion Kamaru Usman. Chael Sonnen was asked repeatedly by Ariel Helwani about Leon Edwards and while Sonnen didn't deny the British fighter's ability inside the Octagon, he slammed him for not being interesting (H/T Bloodyelbow):
Leon Edwards does everything right except make himself interesting. There’s another guy in the same weight class that does the same thing: His name is Neil Magny. The only time in a matchmaker’s meeting that these guys’ names are even brought up is when Sean Shelby is flipping through the contracts and says, ‘oh we owe this guy a fight, who should we put him with?’ Well, let’s put him with somebody really hard, because they’re a really hard guy and only a really hard guy is going to do that fight.
Chael Sonnen said that Leon Edwards doesn't bring interest to the table and doesn't have creative control.
You want to have a title fight or a big fight, the first thing you have to be is interesting! Both of those guys are great fighters, but they don’t bring any interest to the table. Leon Edwards coming out and calling for a fight that anybody that has the sense knows he isn’t going to get, not only wastes a media opportunity, but it makes him look like he doesn’t have power in this sport. The worst thing you can be in this sport, is powerless.
Chael Sonnen doesn't believe that there's a ceiling for either Leon Edwards or Neil Magny and believes both men have the potential to be World Champion. However, he said that for people like them, they need to realize that they need to bring a level of interest to the table.
Will Leon Edwards get his due?
Chael Sonnen, as blunt as he sounds, is spot on about what he said about Leon Edwards and Neil Magny. In the case of Leon Edwards, he would have easily gotten a title shot had he had more buzz around him.
Unfortunately, the marketing aspect is a reality of the sport and that's why fighters like Jorge Masvidal and Nate Diaz, despite being ranked lower than Leon Edwards, have more power than him.