Leon Edwards had quite a bit to say about Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone before their fight — particularly about the veteran’s age and attitude toward fighting. Yet in the wake of the fight, which Edwards won by decision, there’s nothing but respect remaining between them. In fact, Edwards considers Cowboy a legend.

“The buildup to the fight, I wasn’t talking shit, I was just saying he’s an older guy and that’s all I was saying,” Edwards said at the post-fight press conference (via MMA Fighting). “He took it personal and said he’s going to be angry and blah, blah, blah, but it is what it is. To go out there and face him in the fifth round, I was just talking to him and said, ‘You said I would slow down in the fifth round and you were gonna pick the pace up in the fifth round. Well, now what you doin’?’ So I was just having fun in the fifth round talking to him.

“After the fight I told him I respected him and he’s a legend of the game and it was an honor for me to fight him.”

With his fight with Cowboy in the rear-view, Edwards is now hoping to mix it up with Jorge ‘Gamebred’ Masvidal — ideally in his hometown of Birmingham, England.

“At the time, he was No. 6 in the rankings and I was going down in the rankings and everyone else was matched up, so why not take out another old gun?” Edwards said, explaining his call-out of Masvidal. “Masvidal, he’s been around again, a long time, so why not go in there and take him out?

“To bring the UFC back to Birmingham as well, headline billing me and him, have Tom Breese and my brother Fabian on the bill. It would be amazing.”

Does a potential Leon Edwards vs. Jorge Masvidal bout interest you?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/23/2018.