Can Leon Edwards have a long reign as Champ??

PunchesOnLunches said:
Honestly the Welterweight division is a weight class full of tough matchups specifically for him. He pulled off a great feat getting it done versus Usman but tbh if we're talking about if he can get a string of title defenses together I mean he could but he has a particularly hard road ahead of him. I think an Usman rematch is going to be tough, I think Khamzat is a horriawful match for Leon, I think Gilbert burns also poses some real problems for Leon. Leon's got the heart and the skill but like, stylistically he's sort of in the shark pool a little bit imo.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I see Leon as a good-to-very good point fighter and a pretty good anti-wrestler. If you look at long-term champs, that's not the formula. All of them have been elite strikers (Anderson Silva, Israel, etc.); elite grapplers (GSP, Usman, Cormier, Khabib) or a bit of both (Jones, BJ Penn, Aldo). I don't see Edwards being as dominant or elite as any of those guys were in their era as champs. And like you said, there are a lot of tough match-ups for him.
 
mkt said:
Yeah, I see Leon as a good-to-very good point fighter and a pretty good anti-wrestler. If you look at long-term champs, that's not the formula. All of them have been elite strikers (Anderson Silva, Israel, etc.); elite grapplers (GSP, Usman, Cormier, Khabib) or a bit of both (Jones, BJ Penn, Aldo). I don't see Edwards being as dominant or elite as any of those guys were in their era as champs. And like you said, there are a lot of tough match-ups for him.
Click to expand...

Yeah if we're going by the stats and logistics of it so to speak, the odds aren't in Leon's favor. But at the same time if Leon proved us all wrong and showed out for a string of solid title defenses I also wouldn't be terribly surprised. Off the cuff, it just seems like it's an uphill battle for Leon. I think you highlighted but Leon seems a bit like a jack of all trades. Very good everywhere but there are guys better than him that specialize.

That being said there was another fighter from the UK that fit that description that became MW champion and even had a couple of title defenses. Michael Bisping. So let's not count Leon out. It can happen.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mkt
Not likely

I know he got a 5th round KO somehow, but for the most part his gas tank is too much of a liability to consistently defend the belt.

Skill wise he definitely could though, until he gasses out he’s up there with the best WW’s I have seen… if he can figure his energy expenditure out, the sky is the limit.
 
Big Leon fan, loved all the butthurt he finally caused here, but don't see it if I am honest
 
Last edited:
textwarrior said:
What he did to Usman was very impressive. I like to see if he lets it go a little more in his next fights. I hope we see that version of him more often when he decides to take risks at the right moment. He obviously has it in him to perform like he did.
Click to expand...

Leon said the altitude effected him, I believe it because alot of fighters looked bad that night. Leons gonna be even slicker in the rematch, I can see him landing another KO on Usman. Bet hes practicing that kick even more now lol.
 
Johnnny said:
Live dog? Usman is a massive favourite in the trilogy.

Usman -375
Edwards +290




It sounds like you are blinded by your fandom. If Edwards proved that he could take Usman down and was better on the ground than him, then why did he get repeatedly taken down and controlled by Usman in Rounds 2, 3, and 4?

The reason that Usman is a massive favourite in their third fight is if he sticks to his game plan, Edwards would likely need to perfectly land another very low probability strike.

Edwards hasn't shown to be a fighter that can land big shots consistently. In his 15 UFC fights, he has only scored 4 knockdowns.

Furthermore, Edwards likely won't have much of an opportunity to even throw that low probability strike given that Usman can repeatedly take him down and control him like in Rounds 2, 3, and 4.
Click to expand...

He would have tapped Usman in the first if he wasn’t a cheating POS and got his fingers in Leon’s gloves
 
If he beats Usman, he should try to get a matchup against Masvidal and/or Colby. The latter would be tough, but much easier than Khamzat or Shavkat.

Unfortunately for him, Dana and them want Khamzat to get the next title shot after Usman.
 
This isn't a sport. They could give him two fights with Masvidal back to back for $$$ like they did Usman since they have built-in beef, and he would easily win both and keep the belt another year+. Fighters keep belts as long as UFC gives them easy matchups, once they have to start actually fighting the best guys is when they inevitably lose.
 
Johnnny said:
Live dog? Usman is a massive favourite in the trilogy.

Usman -375
Edwards +290




It sounds like you are blinded by your fandom. If Edwards proved that he could take Usman down and was better on the ground than him, then why did he get repeatedly taken down and controlled by Usman in Rounds 2, 3, and 4?

The reason that Usman is a massive favourite in their third fight is if he sticks to his game plan, Edwards would likely need to perfectly land another very low probability strike.

Edwards hasn't shown to be a fighter that can land big shots consistently. In his 15 UFC fights, he has only scored 4 knockdowns.

Furthermore, Edwards likely won't have much of an opportunity to even throw that low probability strike given that Usman can repeatedly take him down and control him like in Rounds 2, 3, and 4.
Click to expand...

Stop pretending like Usman wasn't in serious trouble in that first round. Leon looked great before he gassed, I think Usman was less effected because he trains at altitude.

Also the Leon Headkick KO was perfectly set up and wasn't some lucky Kick. Usman should be worried in this rematch.
 
I have a feeling Usman will beat him in the rubber match, however I would love to see Edwards reign for as long as possible. He’s certainly more fun to watch than most of WW’s contenders and seems like a good dude.
 
I like Leon a lot, but I'm fairly certain Usman beats the brakes off of him in the rematch.
 
Nah but let him have fun in the next few months and ride out that HL reel KO.
 
He probably wins the rematch, and then immediately loses in the most anticlimactic way to the next challenger. This is the only way
 
usman likely decisions him in a very boring fight for the trilogy where he spams TDs and wall-n-stall techniques.
 
PunchesOnLunches said:
Yeah if we're going by the stats and logistics of it so to speak, the odds aren't in Leon's favor. But at the same time if Leon proved us all wrong and showed out for a string of solid title defenses I also wouldn't be terribly surprised. Off the cuff, it just seems like it's an uphill battle for Leon. I think you highlighted but Leon seems a bit like a jack of all trades. Very good everywhere but there are guys better than him that specialize.

That being said there was another fighter from the UK that fit that description that became MW champion and even had a couple of title defenses. Michael Bisping. So let's not count Leon out. It can happen.
Click to expand...
I don't want to get derailed on Bisping since this is about Edwards and I agree with you on everything else. But Bisping only had one title defense against a 46-year old Hendo who was 3-6 in his prior 9 fights. I think that was the worst title defense choice ever since that division had Jacare, Whittaker, Yoel, Mousasi and even Rockhold/Weidman (recent champs) who were more deserving and tougher opponents for Bisping...and he still barely won the fight. I'd say Rich Franklin was a better example of a jack-of-all trades fighter who won a belt and defended it twice. However, that was an era when MMA was less evolved and a lot of Rich's best competition (including Anderson Silva) was in Pride when he first held the belt.

You could also make a case for Bendo being a jack-of-all-trades fighter (very good at everything in his prime but not a finisher and not elite in any one area). The LW division had quite a few guys like that between BJ and Khabib's reigns. He had 3 title defenses (tied with Khabib, BJ and Frankie Edgar for the most at LW) but many of his wins were very close/controversial SDs.
 
Last edited:
Not sure why people keep on bringing up Chimaev, he's never fighting at WW again. But I have a tough time seeing Leon beating Usman again unless Usman is a different fighter when he comes back from that KO.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,280,530
Messages
58,294,026
Members
175,997
Latest member
WingedC

Share this page

Back
Top