UFC 300 main event: Which three opponents did Dana White reportedly offer Leon Edwards?

Leon Edwards, following dominating victories over former champion Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 and UFC 286, has been displaying heightened confidence in his career. Recently, Dana White also acknowledged Edwards’ eagerness to face any opponent.

A few days ago, when the UFC president presented three potential opponents, the welterweight champion’s response impressed him. Let’s explore the identity of the three fighters that White offered to Leon Edwards.

Which three opponents did Dana White offer Leon Edwards for the UFC 300 main event?

After successfully defending the UFC welterweight title, Leon Edwards has solidified his status as one of the biggest names in MMA. Currently on a 12-fight win streak, Edwards is ready to extend it to 13.

Impressed by his performance, Dana White offered three opponents for him to face in the UFC 300 main event. According to White’s recent statement, he was highly impressed with the champ’s response. The UFC president revealed that “Rocky” accepted all three opponents, earning him the tag of a “stud.”

Dana White at the UFC 298 press conference told the reporters about the potential match against UFC welterweight champion: “Let me say this: Leon Edwards has had like three opponents throughout this thing. Leon Edwards doesn’t say ‘no’ to anybody. This kid is an absolute stud. He’s had three opponents thrown out during UFC 300—”yes, ‘yes, yes..’ He was willing to take on anyone. Kids is an absolute stud. Leon, thank you. Much respect.”

Recently, Ariel Helwani revealed that those three opponents were Khamzat Chimaev, Shavkat Rakhmonov, and Islam Makhachev. It can be believed that these 3 opponents turned down the offer due to the month of Ramadan.

Belal Muhammad has not offered Leon Edwards a bout despite his impressive winning streak.

Just like Leon Edwards, Belal Muhammad is another dominant welterweight fighter on a 10-fight undefeated streak. Despite his dominating performance at UFC 288 against former title challenger Gilbert Burns, Belal’s name hasn’t emerged as the next UFC welterweight title challenger.

According to Sportskeeda, famous journalist Ariel Helwani explained, “As I said last Monday, they wanted Leon versus Khamzat, and as Dana White said, wasn’t it nice to hear Dana White finally give Leon props because it wasn’t that long ago they were removing Leon from the rankings when they were trying to jerk him around to fight Khamzat and do all this other stuff?”

But Helwani’s biggest claim is that they have never thought about offering Belal as the next choice to challenge Edwards for the title fight. A famous reporter claimed, “They said they offered him three fights. Khamzat top choice, some talk of Shavkat, some talk of even Islam, said he said yes to all of them, never specifically said the names, but trust me on this one, amazingly, Belal is not one of them.”

What do you think Ariel Helwani’s guess is right about the expected opponent of Leon Edwards?