Leon Edwards had to wait a long time for his shot at UFC gold. When he got there, he made it count.
Edwards, the Briton of Jamaican heritage, has posted a legendary run in the UFC’s 170-pound fold in recent years. His unbeaten run dates back 13 fights and almost nine years — all the way back, in fact, to his first meeting with a rival to who his career would ultimately be forever linked: Kamaru Usman.
Usman, himself considered among the all-time welterweight elite, handed Edwards his most recent defeat in Orlando, Florida in 2015; a fight in which he employed his wrestling to neutralise the then heavily striking-dependent Edwards.
Their first rematch in August 2022 delivered the now infamous (‘Bang. Headshot. Dead.’) buzzer beater headkick KO in a fight that Edwards had to pull out of the fire after Usman streaked ahead in rounds 2, 3 and 4.
But in their third fight the following March, Edwards showed exactly why was the new pacesetter at welterweight, scoring a majority decision over Usman to take the lead in their three-fight series.
You can check that one out in full below.
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