Written by Charles Csizmadia Jr.
Immediately after his no contest main event with Belal Muhammad on March 13th, Leon Edwards started his campaign for the next title shot. With Usman and Masvidal being booked for a rematch to take place on April 24th at UFC 261, why does Leon Edwards not deserve the next shot?
Listen, I get it. Since losing to the champion Kamaru Usman in December 2015 by decision on the early prelims of Rafael Dos Anjos’ lightweight title defense to Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, “Rocky” has yet to lose.
He has churned out wins over both the mentioned headliners in RDA and Cowboy, as well as other notable names such as Gunnar Nelson and tenth-ranked Vicente Luque, who takes on former champion Tyron Woodley In just over a week at UFC 260.
Despite this, Leon Edwards has struggled to make a name for himself. He has amassed an 18-3 professional record, with an eight-fight win streak since the Usman loss. A bland personality paired with the infamous altercation with Jorge Masvidal backstage after their wins in 2019 in London made for fans to be not very receptive of his rise.
Of course the 14-month layoff did not sit well with fans. Since his dominant decision over RDA in July 2019, Edwards had yet to step back into the octagon. He was supposed to face former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in March 2020, but COVID travel restrictions halted those plans.
Then Edwards claimed that everyone the UFC tried to match him with turned him down. Either way, he was not fighting. The UFC moved fights to Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, dubbed “Fight Island”, to make it easier for international fighters to compete. Edwards still did not fight. Due to inactivity, Edwards was removed from the rankings for a day, despite being within the top three. This pushed a fight to be made between Edwards and whoever the UFC told him was next, and it turned out to be Khamzat Chimaev.
Rising Chechen prospect Khamzat Chimaev, who had mauled everyone in sight since being brought into the UFC, was supposed to be the one to get the bump up in competition and fight Edwards back in December, but COVID forced Edwards out. It was rescheduled for January 20th, but then Chimaev pulled out for the same reason. Then rescheduled for a third and final time to take place last weekend, Chimaev’s lingering complications from the virus led to the UFC looking for a replacement for Edwards to fight on just three weeks’ notice, in which Belal Muhammad stepped up to the plate.
With Muhammad creeping up to the 13th spot in a stacked welterweight division, he had the chance to make it into the divisional top three, the elite, and the fight fell way below expectations.
In a highly-unfortunate and anticlimactic ending to a very quality Fight Night card, Leon Edwards would catch
Belal Muhammad with arguably one of the worst eye pokes ever seen 18 seconds into the 2nd round. Even commentator and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, who suffered a terrible eye injury that saw him part ways with his right eye altogether and win the belt afterwards, spoke to the extent of Muhammad’s recently acquired eye injury. The fight had been stopped previously in the 1st round for an initial eye poke from Edwards, one of which was not as severe.
Though Edwards comfortably won the first round, the main event as always had four rounds to go. It had essentially just begun. Though apologetic, Edwards immediately started campaigning for a title shot, something that his seen him earn quite the flack for. As noted, his 14-month layoff, paired with a no contest main event, does not make up the recipe for a title shot. UFC President Dana White had stated before the bout that he would “absolutely” get the next title shot with an impressive win Saturday night. That impressive win did not come.
This was only the fifth time in the UFC’s 28-year history that a main event ended up a no contest. It is only the second time it was decided in the octagon, as the other three were due to either positive PEDS or marijuana tests. Though Edwards has yet to be beaten since 2015, the no contest ends his win streak.
The other decided in the octagon shared a similar key detail: eye pokes. It is worth noting that the two men involved in the last occurrence, Yair Rodriguez and Jeremy Stephens, ran it back and had quite a fight.
Am I saying they have to run it back, no. Edwards showed in a short amount of time that he was levels above Muhammad, but at the same time, we have seen miraculous comebacks with much more damage inflicted to the winning fighter.
In the heavyweight division we have recently seen Derrick Lewis grab a victory in the final 11 seconds over Alexander Volkov who had been outclassing him, as well as the same deal with Jairzinho Rozenstruik with four seconds left over Alistair Overeem.
What do those fights have in common that the Leon Edwards and Belal Muhammad fight did not share? The fact that each fighter, who finds themselves highly ranked in their division, were outclassed for over 99% of their fights. Edwards vs. Muhammad was stopped at 26% of the fight. Not to mentioned Muhammad had competed four times before Edwards last got in the octagon.
Now let us dissect the other contributing factors to why Edwards does not deserve a title shot next, which stays the same regardless of if Usman retains the belt in his next defense or not. The only other candidates right now are Colby Covington and Stephen Thompson. Both men have stayed relatively active, and Edwards makes them look like they are as active as Cowboy.
Wonderboy, though dropping in his ranking since the Woodley fights with losses to Darren Till, a very close fight, and Anthony Pettis, had accrued dominant decisions to Vicente Luque and Geoff Neal since. His striking is also superior to Edwards, and I believe it would make for a more exciting matchup with Usman, who has yet to stand across the octagon from Wonderboy.
Colby is 8-2 in his last ten and 16-2 overall. The outspoken fighter had rattled off a seven-fight win streak before losing to the champion Usman at UFC 245 in December 2019. A former interim champion, it is known what Colby can accomplish against the elite. The brash personality and history with Usman that has created such intense bad blood is so much more thrilling than an Edwards rematch. Many were interested in seeing them coach The Ultimate Fighter, which could happen in the future still.
When you look at the fight with Usman, Colby had been winning it on the scorecards before the stoppage. Judge Sal D’Amato had Colby winning three rounds to one going into the fifth. Judge Eric Colon had it even, and Derek Cleary had Usman winning three. It was closely contested. Colby had cracked Usman and had his moments, and arguably had more moments in the fight than Usman. Though Colby looked to have no point of return in the fifth when he was caught for the final time, Colby immediately protested the Marc Goddard stoppage with 50 seconds remaining.
Producing a Fight of the Night the first time around, plus dominating Tyron Woodley last September and a storyline is the recipe for a rematch well before a Leon Edwards title shot.
I just want to close out by acknowledging all the good Leon Edwards has done in the sport. It is hard to stay at the top of such a cut-throat sport in the greatest MMA promotion in the world, whether it is consistent or not. He earned his spot, and he has not been dealt the best hand. I just think there are better options for the UFC, but Leon will get his title shot soon, and one more win may be all it takes.
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