Darren Till, Leon Edwards debate ‘best welterweight in the U.K.’ at UFC London press conference

Leon Edwards made no secret that he wanted to fight Darren Till at UFC London during a recent appearance on MMA Fighting’s Eurobash and he didn’t hold back when he came face-to-face with his fellow Englishman at Wednesday’s event press conference.

Till, his main event opponent Jorge Masvidal, Leon Edwards and Nathaniel Wood were all present in the English capital to promote the London event, and it didn’t take long for “Rocky” to take aim at “The Gorilla”.

“I feel like I should’ve been the main event,” said Edwards. “I’ve called out both Masvidal and Till, they both turned it down. I was meant to fight Jorge in December on the Jon Jones card, he said yes and then he pulled out last minute.

“He said he was going to wait for Nick Diaz and that didn’t happen and then I pushed for the London card—me and Till—he didn’t want it so that didn’t happen. Now I’m here, I’ve got Gunnar Nelson, he’s good. It will be a good fight, I’m looking forward to it. I’m going in there to punch a hole through his face and hopefully whoever wins the main event, I should be next.”

“I feel like I have to go out there and stop Gunnar Nelson to stake my claim and to get the winner of the main event,” he added.

Till denied that he was offered a fight with Edwards.

“They never [offered me Edwards],” said Till. “They offered me the [Santiago] Ponzinibbio fight. They came to me with [Rafael] Dos Anjos, they mentioned [Kamaru] Usman…”

“Either way, I called you out on social media and called you out after the fights and still no fight,” Edwards jumped in, cutting Till off midsentence. “This is the fight to make. This isn’t the f*cking fight to make, him and Jorge, it was me versus him. Who is the best welterweight in the U.K.? That’s what should’ve happened, not Jorge.”

The Liverpudlian highlighted on several occasions that he would be open to fighting Edwards if he can get through Nelson, but that didn’t calm the back and forth between the two Brits.

“You’re not as good as you think you are,” said Edwards, criticizing Till.

“I just know one thing: I’ll punch a hole in your face,” said Till, staring at Edwards from across the dais.

“You’ll punch a hole in nothing…what are you talking about? Look at your path and look at my path, what are you talking about?” asked Edwards.

“Your time will come and when it comes, you’ll get it,” said Till

“We’ll see who’s number one,” Edwards retorted.

“Right now in England, I’m number one,” Till declared.

“You’re not number one,” Edwards cackled.

“Well, I am. I’m the f*ckin’ main event, mate,” Till fired back.

The conversation between the two moved onto their respective fights with Donald Cerrone.

“You’re not on my level, Till,” Edwards told the London headliner.

“Mate, it took you five rounds to finish an old Cowboy…I destroyed him in one round.”

“You leave your chin out there,” said Edwards, mimicking a telegraphed punch. “You can’t even box. You box like an amateur.”

Till replied: “I box like an amateur? Ok, mate, we’ll see when the time comes.”

“Does anyone have the wifi password,” Masvidal chimed in, bringing the arguing to an end.

Later on, after some bickering about whether their fight would take place in Liverpool or Birmingham, the two resumed their argument, as Edwards suggested that it there is a similar situation occurring in U.K. boxing where British fighters are not willing to face off against each other.

“The English don’t want to fight the English. They’d rather go and fight around the world and get beat by world-class fighters. It’s like [Amir] Khan and [Kell] Brook. It’s the same kind of thing, they just don’t want to fight each other. I want to fight, so when [Till] is ready, I’m ready,” said Edwards.

“Leon, do you think I’m scared of you?” Till asked. “You’re saying I don’t want to fight you.”

“You are scared. If a man’s been calling me out for a year, I’m fighting him,” replied Edwards.

“Mate, I’ve got Masvidal here to worry about, I’m not worried about you,” Till said. “You need to worry about Gunnar because he’s going to tap you out.”

“You’ll get your beating this year, don’t you worry,” he added.