UFC 263 saw the long awaited return of Welterweight contender Leon Edwards where he picked up a Unanimous decision victory over a fan favorite in Nate Diaz. The 25 minute non-title or Main Event fight was something different from the UFC and honestly Edwards dominated probably 22 1/2 out of the 25 minutes. Diaz late in round five caught Leon with a clean left that definitely wobbled the Englishmen.
However, Leon persevered and made it to the final bell. I think the decision was pretty clear with Edwards landing not only a high percentage of strikes than Diaz but also just at face value the damage done to Diaz’s face and leg was pretty noticeable. Leon Edwards in this fight picked up his 10th straight victory in the UFC but also his 8th decision victory.
This has been the criticism of Edwards for some time is that he is a “boring” fighter who does not finish and just coasts to decision victories. I completely understand this aspect of his game may not always be appealing for box office drawing but the fighter obviously can compete with top tier talent and deserves a title shot.
UFC President Dana White at the post fight press conference stuck by the previously mentioned matchup of Colby Covington and Kamaru Usman having a rematch of the UFC 245 title fight where Usman defeated him with a jaw breaking 5th round TKO. This is frustrating for some in the community as Leon has been trying to get elite opponents for over a year at this point with no luck.
Edwards now is once again in a state of limbo with no clear opponent on the horizon even though he sits in the top 3. I think he cant wait for Usman and Covington to rematch without fighting as he needs to stay active. I think the best case scenario is for him to fight the winner of Burns vs Thompson and if Wonderboy wins that should be the next best matchup.
If I am Dana White I make a title elimination bout for Thompson vs Edwards sometime towards the end of 2021 and then have a March/April 2022 matchup between the winner of that bout face Usman/Covington. Leon needs finishes though unfortunately as that is the way to make money and name recognition in MMA.
I personally do not find Leon boring he’s very tactical and accurate but more casual fans do not see it that way. They want to see crazy knockouts or slick submissions. Leon will continue unfortunately in this state of limbo unless Dana realizes the talent the young man has very soon. I know this is a bit of a shorter piece but there is truly not much to say Leon deserves a title fight but it seems as this point he’s not getting the next shot so the best course of action is just to stay active and defeat someone like Thompson to maybe prove hes ready for a title fight.