Leon Edwards has retained his UFC welterweight title by defeating Kamaru Usman in a nailbiting contest.
The Brit emerged victorious thanks to a majority decision, with two judges scoring it 48-46 in his favour while one gave it 47-47.
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It was a closely contested fight with both fighters having moments of brilliance.
Edwards’ notorious kicks proved to be critical, landing crushing shots on Usman’s body and legs at will.
The Nigerian’s relentless pressure was a constant throughout, shooting for and succeeding with several takedowns.
Edwards even copped a point deduction in the third round for grabbing on to the fence in a bid to avoid a takedown.
But the hometown hero prevailed having landed more significant strikes throughout the bout.
Edwards was perhaps a little lucky not to have copped more point deductions having committed a handful of other illegal acts.
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At one stage, he grabbed the inside of Usman’s gloves during a clinch whilst backed up on the cage and was given a stern talking to by referee Herb Dean.
After copping the point deduction for grabbing the fence, Edwards then dished out a low blow that momentarily paused the fight.
He also caught Usman with another illegal shot to the groin and despite the challenger’s hopeful glance to Dean, the bout continued on.
Yet Edwards ultimately prevailed in his trilogy fight against Usman to settle their beef once and for all.
Although the main event delivered plenty of action, a certain attendee made sure to generate some headlines of his own.
Polarising welterweight contender Colby Covington was on stand-by as the backup fighter had Edwards or Usman been unable to compete for whatever reason, but had a front row seat to all the action.
The American reportedly watched the entire fight while standing up and had plenty to say in a post-fight interview conducted backstage.
Not only did Covington call out Edwards and take aim at Khamzat Chimaev, but he also teased a potential super fight with global superstar Conor McGregor.
“If Conor wants to fight one day and do business, you know, it’s probably the biggest fight the UFC would ever do,” Covington said.
UFC STAR ‘TRYING TO FIGHT REFEREE’ AFTER ‘NASTY’ KO
Israeli star Yanal Ashmouz has delivered a stunning knockout victory over Sam Patterson on the UFC 286 prelims.
In his UFC debut, Ashmouz caught a kick from Patterson and dished out an overhand right at the same time with just under a minute on the clock in the fight.
But as Patterson lost his balance, Ashmouz clipped him with a clean left hand that dropped the Brit and left him dazed.
Ashmouz then unloaded a barrage of strikes on the ground while Patterson simply couldn’t defend himself as referee Marc Goddard eventually stepped in to end the fight.
After coming round, Patterson was left confused and thought the fight was still going, with Goddard and his coach having to tell him the fight was over.
“You know it’s a bad knockout when the guy is trying to fight the referee and his coaches after he gets up again. Nasty, nasty, nasty,” veteran MMA writer Damon Martin wrote on Twitter.
FULL FIGHT CARD — UFC 286
MAIN CARD
Leon Edwards def Kamaru Usman via MD (48-46 x 2, 47-47)
Justin Gaethje def Rafael Fiziev via MD (29-28, 29-29, 28-28)
Gunnar Nelson def Bryan Barberena via submission in Round One
Jennifer Maia def Casey O’Neill via UD (30-27, 29-28 x 2)
Marvin Vettori def Roman Dolidze via UD (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
PRELIMS
Jack Shore def Makwan Amirkhani via submission in Round Two
Chris Duncan def Omar Morales via SD (29-28 x 2, 27-30)
Sam Patterson def by Yanal Ashmoz via TKO in Round One
Muhammad Mokaev def Jafel Filho via submission in Round Three
EARLY PRELIMS
Lerone Murphy def Gabriel Santos via SD (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Christian Leroy Duncan def Dusko Todorovic via TKO (injury) in Round One
Malcolm Gordon def by Jake Hadley via TKO in Round One
Joanne Wood def Luana Carolina via SD (30-27, 29-28, 28-29)
Jai Herbert drew with Ludovit Klein (29-27, 28-28 x 2)
Juliana Miller def by Veronica Macedo via UD (30-27 x 3)
