Jorge Masvidal insists he is still open to a fight with Leon Edwards but admits it is entirely out of his control.
Fans had been excited to see two of the welterweight division's best fighters finally settle their long-running feud at UFC 269 in Las Vegas on December 11.
But their hopes were dashed after Gamebred withdrew from the pair's eagerly-anticipated grudge match last week with an undisclosed injury.
And according to Masvidal, it will keep him out of action for up to six weeks at the latest.
“[It was] a good injury,” Masvidal told MMA Fighting.
“A good injury happened. I don’t think I’ve ever signed a bout agreement and pulled out ever. In my whole history in the UFC, this is my first time.
"I don’t want to discuss the actual injury that I got. It should impact me for five to six weeks. The reason is that I never discuss my injuries online is, why? Why am I going to give info out on myself?”
Masvidal, 36, has been out of action since April, when he was knocked out by Kamaru Usman at UFC 261.
Yet, despite his embarrassing loss to Usman, Masvidal insists he would still like to fight Edwards, two years after their first encounter.
“I told the UFC that we could push it back further,” he added.
“It’s up to Leon, and from his initial response, he doesn’t want to wait and I don’t blame him. If he has an option to fight for a title or wait two more months for me, I don’t know what he wants to do or nor do I give a f---.
"All I know is if he wants to go February or March, we can go. If he doesn’t want to wait, then he’s onto the next thing.
“If he wants to wait until February or March, I can decapitate him on sight for the world to see. If he doesn’t, I mean, what can I do, you know?”
If he can't get what he wants, however, Masvidal admitted he would be more than happy to take out his frustrations on his former teammate and training partner, Colby Covington.
He continued: “This guy is the king coward. He can’t control himself from being a coward so I’d love to smash his face in and get a handsome reward from it.
"But at this particular time, since I signed first for Leon, I would like to address his b------- first and then we’ll take care of that fragile guy.
"Now, he’s changing his thing where he’s a nice guy and s---. Usman beat his a-- so hard and now he’s the nice guy. Damn, what a f------ turn of events, huh? That f------ coward.”
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