Kamaru Usman shared the reason why Leon Edwards didn’t get the next title shot.

After Edwards beat Diaz at UFC 263, he said his next fight would be for the belt. Yet, Usman will instead defend his title against Colby Covington at UFC 268 and Edwards will fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 269. For Usman, he says Edwards getting rocked in the final minute against Diaz cost him the title shot.

“That was an audition… You audition for me, then I decide if it’s you or that guy,” Usman said to Daniel Cormier (via Sportskeeda). “Myself and the promotion we’ll sit down and we’ll say, ‘I like this audition tape. Let’s go ahead and pick him next.’ And he went out there and he was auditioning and for a while he did okay. But then, all of a sudden, the 25th minute, you sh*t the bed. You can’t do that.”

Usman certainly has a point that the final minute did hurt Edwards’ stock as most people remember Diaz nearly finishing him. Yet, should he beat Masvidal, the Brit will likely be next in line for the belt. However, Usman makes it clear that Edwards isn’t marketable enough to earn a title shot before other people.

“Someone has to keep it real with this guy. At the end of the day we know – let’s be honest here – we know this is a business. This is a partnership between us and the promotion,” Usman added. “In a partnership, you got to give them something to work with. You gotta give them something to sell. And they have thrown you bone after bone after bone. Let’s just be honest, based on that last performance, you can’t go out there and do that with Nate Diaz. You can’t do that.”

Do you agree with Kamaru Usman as to why Leon Edwards got passed up for the title?