I hope you enjoyed the Edwards era

[Chillez]

Just like the Machida era nice short and sweet

 

[HuskySamoan]

Welcome to the Shavkat Era

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

 

[goOb]

An era is like a 6-10 year reign at the top in my opinion. Aldo, GSP, Jones and Anderson Silva all come to mind. Stipe hasn’t even had an era. What is this drivvel about Edward having one?

 

[ryun253]

Welcome to the Shavkat Era

I want to believe, but damn his defense needs a lot of work

 

[rjmbrd]

I don’t get why people think he can do it again. It was a Hail Mary, late in a fight he had all but lost. Even his own corner gave up on him. Usman beats him 9/10 times. It was a fluke. Edwards had a good first round and a Hail Mary late. Big deal.

Because he not only won the first round, he dominated?

When both guys were fresh, Edwards was the one getting an easy take down and mount. He's not going to gas from elevation this time.

Even if Usman somehow survived the kick and got up, he would have a draw or narrowly eeked out a 3-2 decision.

 

[Jonesisnatural]

I'll av bet any of you ghey Bois that Leon wins again
Usman is shot

 

[NikLuk]

You wrote that you didn't get it so I explained why I think he can beat Usman again.

So basically he didn’t get dominated for one round. Ok, got it.

No, that's not what happened in round one. Edwards beat Usman at Usman's game in the first round. It was not about Edwards not being "dominated for one round".

Usman was also fighting at high altitude.

He was. But as far as I remember it, Usman was wiser than Edwards and prepared well for it (e.g. training at high altitude for the fight).

Leon couldn’t stop the grappling after the first then and I doubt he does it next time either.

You're free to doubt it. I, on the other hand, think that Edwards can beat Usman again.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I want to believe, but damn his defense needs a lot of work

For whatever it's worth, his strikes absorbed per minute rate is still lower than guys like Burns, Neal and Thompson. I think being hittable in the pocket vs Neal isn't as bad as it sounds, who's better in the pocket at 170lbs than Neal? Maybe Jack Della. Neal's also one of the bigger hitters at 170.

But I agree, he should work on his head movement more, it's the tall man's curse, being so long and tall you don't get punished for defensive short comings nearly as often so they get overlooked when they should have been ironed out. I'd like to see his cardio and takedown defense tested too vs someone like Burns, Colby or Belal. But I just have this feeling he's making it to the title.

 

[C0NCH3TO]

Edwards is sending him to the shadow realm again.

 

[RageQuitLord]

If Usman uses his dominant badass USA wrestling game to "LnP" I will be totally stoked. Screw all you casuals this is MMA not kickboxing if you can't stop a grinding wrestler you're a Ciryl Gane waiting to happen in this sport

 

[Steve Fox]

Afaik Leon was the one taking Usman down.

 

[gracie_barra_samurai]

Welcome to the *sea level* Leon era

 

[Killer Kadoogan]

I enjoyed the Gane era

 

[Sasha]

Usman was also fighting at high altitude.

He fights about 2 inches lower. I can't believe this explanation for his better cardio isn't more widely accepted.

 

[JKS]

I also think GSP fans were ecstatic at the Leon win. It protected GSP’s goat status for another decade. But if leon wins another 2 fights the idiots will start calling him goat

so he was winning until he lost…

…still only up 2 rounds if u want to get technical. And 5th round was a 10-0 round lol

The winning till he lost thing is the pretty much the center point of this rematch lol. Usman was up 3 rounds to 1 and winning the 5th round for 4 mins while it last. I mean, has there every been a bigger winning till he lost in a title fight than this?? And it's certainly worth talking about, it's not like Usman was winning and then got KO'd mid fight, it was the last minute of the 5th round. The 5th round has no score cause the fight ended. But it was clearly an Usman round till that point.

Everyone knows that Usman was clearly winning this fight and was on his way to victory.

 

[Streeter]

Just wish it was a better card. There's 2 fights then garbage. Should have sent so r of last ppv pre lies to the main card on this one

 

[BigSexy444]

What a ride Leon has taken us on.

 

[HHJ]

Edwards had a good first round and a Hail Mary late. Big deal.

It's definitley a big deal. He knocked Usman the fuck out. It wasnt a hail mary,he set it up.

 

[Sasha]

U can also say usman lost 1 round, crotch sniffed for 3 rounds, and got Ko’d the other round. So he was only up 3 rounds to 2

Honestly bro, you really don't have to bother arguing about such silly statements ; even if we were counting points after a KO (which would be comical, but it's just for the sake of the demonstration), I would argue that the round when the KO happened should be scored 10-0. So even if the guy who got KO'd scored, say, 10-8 in every round until the fifth, that still wouldn't be enough to compensate being finished (a.k.a. losing).

There are rules, but some guys should remember the spirit of the rules. The UFC wasn't meant to be a point fighting contest, and anyone managing to finish his opponent should get full credit for this.
Trying to win a decision is exposing yourself to being kicked in the face.
That doesn't mean Usman isn't good, he's got nothing to prove, but if he really was so much better than Leon this night, it's a silly idea to not have finished him first.