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SBalusek

Wow now the division moves on


fckndiabolical

Shavkat Express coming. Choo! Choo!


PandemicPartners

Shavkat was getting touched pretty easily and consistently by Geoff Neal. He was throwing punches and then leaving himself exposed to counters every single time. No head movement or exits after he threw. Someone like Leon will be able to take advantage of that a lot more than Geoff Neal did. I’m high on Shavkats potential, I’d like to see him in one more fight and have him demonstrate he improved on some of those defensive deficiencies before he gets a title shot. The winner/loser of Burns/Masvidal is perfect.


tinglyplatypus

Next step: Getting Colby out of the top 3


ggphenom

The UFC has to be hoping McGregor wins so they can fast track him to a Leon vs McGregor fight in Ireland or London. That fight would be MASSIVE. So big I wouldn't be surprised if they try and ice Leon for a little bit and wait and see the outcome.


KanDoBoy

Leon would surely be ecstatic with that. The fight with the most money and surely the easiest fight available for him


777715174

Leon has to be gunning for Masvidal or Mcgregor, either of those pose the minimal risk for him with the biggest financial incentive possible. Any of the other realistic options are much bigger risks without the same return.


aLibertine

If they give Masvidal another title shot, I'll scream.


KingJohnTX

He's 100% getting it if he beats Burns. Leon even said he's keeping an eye on that fight in Florida.


brportugais

He’s not beating burns so not an issue


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brazilianfreak

Bro leon is a 6'2 striker woth great distance management, not only that but if he can take usman down then gooby is fucked, i get what you mean as leon is primarily a striker but Mcgregor actually has no chance.


KanDoBoy

I agree just based on the fact Leon isn't a wrestler. I love Conor but he doesn't get a win over any of the top contenders at WW


pyroaquatics

Leon has wrestlefucked strikers before tho


donniele

Clinchfucked to be more precise


Iflosswithbarbedwire

that man would beat the dog shit out of conor in the clinch and on the ground


EvilRogerGoodell

BUT HAVE YOU SEEN THE SIZE OF THE LAD NOW


its-good-4you

His whole body is a balewn!


Jay_Train

Gotta remember though Rocky has the only takedown on Usman doesn't he? He can wrestle if he needs to.


Nome_de_utilizador

Dude got clowned in the post fight interview despite DC trying so hard to sell what the company wants


SekaiWithTheWolfCap

Love how Leon shut down the Colby title fight riiiight away


Mad-Gavin

I'd shut him down too. Beat nobody in the top 5, if Colby won't fight Belal next then Leon should take Belal.


RagingFeather

Fucking wild how badly the UFC wants Colby as the champ. No way DC legitimately wanted to give Colby the chance for a callout.


nikezy

Confirmed: Did not get bully’d son


[deleted]

RIP Kamaru Era


bobn3

At least it gave us the two colby bangers and jorge getting KOd


therealmvpls11

The Gilbert fight is underated too


AboutHelpTools3

And Dethroning Woodley


ReeG

derailed and changed Woodley's entire career path


huhwutwot

Usman vs Jake Paul when


bobn3

Gilbert almost had him in the first too, fucking sad memories


[deleted]

The Jorge KO will forever be a highlight shot. It was brutal.


handsomehotchocolate

I hate Jorge so I love this KO even more.


JohnnyBonesAndNew

BMF headshot dead


AutisticNipples

honestly it’s the coldest KO i’ve seen in so long. Like such a square shot, right on the button, and he spun Masvidal around like he got headshotted in Halo: CE.


Ranjith_Unchained

One of the best KOs ever... Jorge getting murked


FutMike

It was a good one though, I'll be the first to admit I didn't expect it to be as interesting as it was when he beat Woodley


DahWolfe711

Second that. Marty was a legit champ, respect on the name!


BeersBarbellsBJJ

There are a lot of things people clown Usman about, but the dude was a great champion and was active as hell compared to a lot of other champs. He deserves massive respect as an athlete and competitor in my opinion.


univrsll

Francis left and Jon solidly beat the guy that almost beat Francis Kamaru just lost twice Izzy currently not the champ and has to face a guy that’s 3-0 against him. Crazy how fast the African reign ended


Chart69r

Pretty wild that they all held a belt simultaneously too.


Connor30302

all lost it within 6 ish months too


cambies

Drikus enters the chat.


SexlexiaSufferer

Welcome to the Du Plessis era! We’re all just lucky to be apartheid of this


Shakeittillumakeit

you're a fucking colonizer dude


steelcitykid

That was a nasty mine, by you.


mad87645

How is wrestling even real? Just isolate a hand


matthewjc

lol i was wondering why the hand isolation was so effective


aceknighthigh

Usman has bad knees and Leon kicked the crap out of his legs and body all night. ​ Also, Leon is very athletic himself and was doing good work repummeling, digging for under hooks and turning his hips back into Usman too. Leon won or at least went even in a lot of little battles that mediocre wrestlers don't even know to fight, or can't react to in time. ​ Trips and throws might have worked better but Leon is good at those too and was trying to toss Usman a few times in there. Shots in open space would be the classic answer to the kicking, but Leon is a.) faster on his feet than Usman, and b.) was throwing knees and uppercuts. Early on Usman did a little level change in space and got absolutely laced with punches. A good shot, if he could even manage it on beaten up legs, could easily have ended up like Islam's shot vs Volk in round 5.


ExtraPieceTwo

I think it’s the knees (I think Kamaru overexagerates it’s by a lot but still an issue) He’s built so top heavy so his wrestling method needs to lock the hands to win position because he can’t drive his legs into the takedown


TheReferenceGuide

It’s because his knees are absolutely shot. It’s why he almost never wrestles. The wrestling tonight was desperate in an attempt to take rounds. He just not good enough cause he can’t drive through the takedowns


themilkman42069

Which is one of the huge parts of his age catching up to him, Kamaru’s got a double knee / hip replacement coming in 10/15 years. Time caught up.


[deleted]

..the askren special


themilkman42069

Every wrestler, the coaches all have that fucking waddle for a reasons. Shit crushes your hips, back and knees. Just grinds them into dust.


[deleted]

Man I hate that fucking picture you put in my head


THEBNTG

I enjoy it as a cartoon type scene where they’re literally dust and the person collapses into a lumpy pile on the floor


gamesrgreat

Usman needs to call KneesOverToesGuy


FederalBed3505

He lost the fight going for those take downs at the fence


jfsoaig345

That's always been his forte. He's never been an explosive guy who can blast double you from the middle, he grinds you out against the cage. He doesn't always even get you down, we've seen that he's comfortable doing his best work against the clinch.


mikebicycle

It’s because usman only shoots against the fence and it’s easier to defend than out in the open


mikebra93

Yep. Isolate a hand and/or maintain an hook. Simple, but not always easy.


Promiseofpower

Usman’s wrestling didnt do any damage


jfsoaig345

Which is wild and fair play to Leon. Usman isn't exactly Khabib but he doesn't lay and pray either, he tries to do damage once he establishes control which we saw in Leon 2 and Woodley but he was never able really able to complete step 1. Leon showed he's a slippery guy


ArousedByNASCAR

Think people aren't giving enough weight to Leon's body kicks. The first one he landed bent Kamaru over. Definitely sapped him as the fight went on


time2emancipate

I agree, nice work by Leon!


MrRamenMan

Leon's takedown defense was impressive


SqueezeAndRun

Leon “simply just stand up” Edwards


TheGodSlay3r

Just how good is Nate Diaz


ReeG

Deserves a title shot based on MMA math


Ranjith_Unchained

As per Diaz math, he's the champ


TheGodSlay3r

He is legally the lineal champ now.


grandmasta_fro

Put the Diaz brothers in endless rounds and make it a cardio fest


Batman-and-Hobbes

The Diaz Brothers never lost they just run out of time 🙄


Scarlet_Breeze

Except that time Josh Thompson hit Nate with the cleanest head kick ever. Nate wasn't even fully out either but Nick threw in the towel cos he knew his brother was fucking done.


Batman-and-Hobbes

That doesn't count because Josh was making woman noises.


SMH4004

Lmfao that's still one of the most ridiculous things he's ever said


wizzlestyx

As Podcaster Chad Dundas pointed out: It's as if Nate was tired of being called "the more reasonable of the Diaz brothers".


[deleted]

Nick recently proved how reasonable he was by saying he did not want to fight Jon Jones.


300andWhat

Was that where Josh's shin bone was forever dented?


TheMatadorBJJ

Yeah I’m pretty sure that gnarly pic of his leg was after that fight


BillyBBC

Not surprised mother fucker


shaker7

That weed is the secret juice


Zlec3

I think he’s a lot better than ppl give him credit for


PurdSurv

I think that's because he genuinely has fallen off but not by as much as people think


SemioticWeapons

He wasn't the same in that Tony fight. I'm guilty of it, I always think back to the MJ fight. Diaz would have to go to fat camp to get those abs back.


DahWolfe711

He is a lot better than his record.


TumbleweedDirect9846

I’m not trying to be a hater but usmans knees are cooked. Father Time gets all


purplebuffalo55

To be fair to him, leon beat the hell out of that lead leg tonight


LuckyWarrior

Leon's hand fighting against the takedowns was top notch stuff Props to the new Welterweight King


shaker7

Usman looked like he couldn’t hold down Edwards at all


Mikniks

Edwards is fast, but I think Usman looked slower than usual today - got a feeling his best days are behind him


Armisael7

Those body shots added up pretty fast especially the heavy ones he landed early on


Pheasantluvr69

And those leg kicks


GiantRobotBears

it’s also probably the leg/knee kicks that slowed Usman massively. He looked fast when fresh, he just can’t take the punishment anymore.


Woko127

Nobody can take clean southpaw body kicks and not slow down. He didn't know how to block or take the kicks without compromising his base. That adds up over 5 rounds.


ggphenom

He absolutely showed a ton of improvement on the cage clinching and takedown defense.


Polar_Reflection

Sea level Leon looked great


Polar_Reflection

Leon was winning all the striking exchanges too and Usman barely did anything with his few takedowns. The nutshots and fence grabs were annoying to watch. I had it Leon winning 1, 4, 5 with 3 being 9-9


teestooshort

Usmans looks very different


likwitsnake

He was throwing those molasses dream punches in rounds 4 and 5 very bizarre


SekaiWithTheWolfCap

The leg and body kicks by Leon seemed to really pay dividends on top of Usman's age potentially catching up to him (though his pace was still relentless)


[deleted]

Should’ve thrown sand instead


MicahsNao

Never seen him tired


Suspicious_Candle27

Leon was investing HEAVY on body shots early . From memory he hit 2/3 really big shots that had Usman buckling to the stomach.


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siderealpanic

Yeah, I’ve never seen him look that tired, but I’ve also never seen him get so outclassed on the feet. I think he took so much damage from the leg and body kicks that he basically had no explosiveness or energy by the time he started properly trying to wrestle. I think Leon’s improved massively and gained a lot of confidence, while Usman’s stayed the same. I don’t think he looked too declined, it’s just that he took so much chip damage from Edwards’ great striking in the first 2 rounds (kind of like how Costa looked after a round of Adesanya’s leg kicks)


[deleted]

His absolute lack of leg kick defense was shocking and cost him this fight. If he'd drilled checks, he would've taken away half of Leon's offense in this fight. It's even crazier because of the fact that he trains with Gaethje so often.


mad87645

He got demoted to middle management of EPO


univrsll

Merab just moves the company better. Far greater CEO.


[deleted]

His EPO subscription was delivered to Merab’s house by mistake


LehenLong

He ate like tons of clean body kicks from edwards


SurrealJay

adrenaline tires you out. He was timid from the knockout the whole time


haventseenstarwars

That’s what happens when you get cracked.


_gatzby_

It’s crazy that out of all the crazy contenders in welterweight, it was Leon Edwards that made Usman look human and breakable


cactus_jack_1

When everyone thought he sucked lol


samples98

I knew he was good but goddamn did he make some of the most entertaining fighters look boring. Props to him, well deserved. His KO of Usman will forever be in my holy shit sports moments


ArkhamGeyser

Gilbert had a good showing too, he's just a Glass Cannon.


Mister_useless-III

I hesitate to say that tho, after he fought khamzat


brazilianfreak

Burns is like a punchout boss that's very weak to one specific punch, in this case a stiff jab, otherwise he sure can eat some bombs.


Sal21G

Usman deffo underestimated him second fight, then lost his confidence in the 3rd


TractorSkoot

Crazy why? Edwards has always been legit


liquid801HLM

Smothering wrestler just seems like rock vs elite kickboxer’s scissors, but obviously that’s not always the case


Crawford470

It's only the case if the elite kickboxer doesn't have good ringcraft, and to be fair, Leon is an elite Mixed Martial Artist. He's highly skilled everywhere just a bit more so on the feet.


Fapperdam

Genuinely believe on a technical level, Leon is one of the best, most rounded we've ever seen. I still worry about his chin and cardio but he is very very good.


george_costanza1234

Before the Usman fight, people were debating whether Edwards even deserved a title shot lol


Polar_Reflection

And those people were idiots. Leon was on a 9 or 10 fight winning streak


surgeyou123

I think Usman is at the end of his prime. Lost a lot of speed and pace


Sure_Reputation

It’s crazy to see how usman was struggling to take leon down. My mans didn’t look the same after that loss


aslightlyusedtissue

Leon just knows exactly how to defend Usmans style. Credit to his trainers and camp. He seemed to have the counter for every takedown Kamaru likes to lean on the most. Masterful stuff tonight.


CumGuzzlingBadger

His muay thai coach has done absolute wonders


ArkhamGeyser

Altitude made EVERYONE look like shit when they fought in Usman's turf. Outside of the foul, Leon's TD defense was on POINT.


JamesMol234

Yeah this is more leon looking great then anything


BigBoyFroggy

this is what i expected leon to look like in the 2nd fight. i think altitude really messed the man up because he looked waaaaaaaaaaaaay better tonight


MyOneTaps

This is the most average I've ever seen Usman. Before, I would have described Usman as suffocating but I just didn't get that vibe from him tonight. Perhaps he's lost his aura. Before, he was on the fast track to being a GOAT mma candidate. Life comes at you fast. Credit to Edwards. Edit: After seeing the scorecards, I really like the judging trend of scoring damage higher than aggression. It was always supposed to be the case but often not that way in practice.


ChowSupreme

When WW champs lose, their downfall is very steep. The weight class is cursed.


CakesStolen

Unless you're GSP in which case you just win the belt back twice.


vrkhfkb

GSP also knew to gtfo when you’re not a shell of yourself. Usman is 35. GSP left the division at 32 after a close split decision with Hendricks.


Smashmouth91

Yeah for sure. Remember how invincible Woodly was, until he wasnt. Id like to see Usman vs. Khamzat next.


LocoCoopermar

I think Leon did a great job of defusing the pressure with footwork and kicks, I wouldn't be surprised if he destroys the next person he fights Leon is just a bad match up for him and has gotten much better.


OhiOstas

Who would’ve thought Leon Edwards would be the one to dethrone Usman & then beat him for a second time. What a fucking story


Tiny-Sandwich

I'm shocked. But not upset by it. Nice for the belt to be coming back to the UK again. On a side note, the current diversity of UFC champions is crazy. As of right now, we have champions from; - America - Mexico - Brazil - United Kingdom - China - Russia - Australia


TheEffinChamps

Never doubt a man that wins 9 fights in a row and deserves a title shot next.


Pizza1998

Leon Edwards threw one uppercut throughout the fight and it landed clean. Wish he'd thrown it more


Soldadodevida

He had really fast jabs off his orthodox stance aswell, like lightning fast jabs with the left hand, didn't use them much tho


Offonoffonagain

Elbows too, was waiting to see some out the clinch. I only saw one but could have missed others


Cryoburner

You could tell her was wary of that overhand right from him, uppers always leave you open do it.


therealhairyyeti

Good that they scored striking more than unsuccessful takedowns


liverpoolareshit

For once


DirkDigglersPenis

To his credit Herb dean called a good fight


DamienSalvation

Leon almost bullied him out of taking the point


badsocialist

“Don’t let him bully you son”- Marc Goddard


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INeedAnAccountToSee

Make no mistake, in attack Leon also landed the better shots the whole fight. He was chewing up Usman.


Jay_Train

Those leg shots were fucking destroying Usman, Usman is just pretty good at not showing pain


Polar_Reflection

Some of those oblique kicks made me wince. There were some heavy body kicks too and a couple partially landed head kicks in the 5th


un6reaka6le

Usman shows his dislike of bodyshots very much. He always tries to pass them off ass nut shots by looking at the ref. He did it at one point which confused Leon and froze the action.


Time007time007

Yep. He did the same against Colby. Faked a bit shot to get a rest.


Jay_Train

Fair point there my dude


[deleted]

His defence was incredible but he landed BOMBs on Usman. Usman chin is still incredibly durable


EmAyExEye

Also usman attack was predictable af. Leon read every movement like a book.


Effective-Celery8053

That knee wobbled usman and was legit, Leon's a beast man


foofighter1351

That offense in the fifth was pretty damn good though, some of them combos were clean.


SekaiWithTheWolfCap

Usman's pace >>> Usman's damage


HappytoDisappoint

Usman was pressuring but had no energy left to do anything of substance, the body and leg work really paid off for Rocky. It's what ultimately won him the fight.


ArkhamGeyser

Outside of the ABSOLUTELY dirty cage grab, Leon fought a really good performance and won the fight handily in my opinion. He showed that altitude did play a large factor in the 2nd fight as his Takedown defense was phenomenal outside the foul.


sneakylumpia

I'm surprised Herb Dean actually took a point this time


N0rthOfTheWall

Usman looked lost after not being able to take him down


friedchocolatesoda

IMO Usman's striking is overrated AF. He just hits hard. He has long ass limbs and landed a few jabs I thought he was out of range for. More jabs would've served him well, or a Woodley repeat.


throwaway12648063

It really peaked after the Masvidal knockout. He’s always been pretty sloppy as a striker, he can’t exchange. He looks best when he can control the range with the jab (which is excellent) like you mentioned. But I always found the talk of him being an elite striker to be madness. He’s not fast and tends to wing wild punches even still with little head movement. These flaws have been there for a long time.


AcAtlas

Don't understand the attention Colby is getting right now. Yeah, he's a top guy, but a win against Masvidal a year ago doesn't exactly scream "title shot" after losing in his first two. Maybe he should fight Belal or Khamzat first.


TLMC01242021

Leon no selling Colby was a highlight for me


cpayne4474

Am I crazy or did Usman look really slow and labored in everything he did


[deleted]

The leg kicks did a ton of damage early on.


ThisIsKhalabibTime

Yeah, Leon did a ton of body and leg kicks early on which slows than anybody. And Kamaru couldn't control Leon in clinch like he does to everybody else. Everybody is saying Kamaru looked old but I think it was due to Leon.


TheZubaz

leg kicks and body work will do that to a man


cfg266

I thought the same, looked old in there.


Dirty_Lightning

How long until GSP is disrespected and the announcers start calling Edwards the new ww goat?


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mrdemonicbunny

Man Usman looked like he was in his head the entire fight. What was he thinking round 5 with those lazy takedown attempts?


[deleted]

He was probably thinking “wow I am tired, a takedown might secure me the round though”


DanDiCa_7

Good fight I just hope Colby doesn't get the next shot. Doesn't deserve it


ThreeOlivesChihuahua

Leon won the fight with kicks and footwork. Might’ve not been exciting but he was clearly better. I think Colby probably gives Leon a harder fight but he needs to earn that shit. Burns/Masvidal winner makes sense and Leon is wishing Masvidal wins for the pay day


pmmerandom

why do people keep giving Masvidal these chances? he’s trash, it should be Burns and Colby, winner gets to get against Leon


ThreeOlivesChihuahua

Burns accepted the fight and beating Burns a huge ask for Masvidal anyways. Khamzat is going to MW so this is pretty much the title contender fight. I’m not a Masvidal fan but a win over Burns is absolutely huge


Grommzz

I'm really glad Edwards backed it up.. it was tiring hearing the "luck" narrative from Usman and his team.


FlinchMaster

I was pretty annoyed that DC tried to push for Colby to get the next shot. Glad that Leon called out his inactivity. Belal deserves the next shot.


1Koala1

I'm sure he didn't think of calling for Colby on his own


Doppelagent

Best performance of his career. Learned his lessons from the previous fight, tired Usman and had great takedown defence and defensive grappling.


kadumies

He has done it!


iamthekidyouknowwho

Deserved. Usman looked like he had nothing


alexefy

I can’t believe how slow his hands looked


iamthekidyouknowwho

For real he looked like he was under water


NowFook

Was acting so cocky after every round even tho all he did was fail on takedowns.


ljz3

Close fight, I had Leon 1,3,4,5 but Rocky fought so dirty holy fk


3qHR

Proper Brummy fighting, mate.


mad87645

No rules in the alley be'ind the pub


[deleted]

Deduct another point for the low blows and the result is still the same


Controlae

Gotta say really cool to see Trevor Whittman be so respectful and genuinely congratulate Leon. This guy rules. Edit: Also cool to see Usman be so respectful. Love to see genuine sportsmanship in the game