Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 16, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 16, 2022 his body is a wonderland Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 17, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 17, 2022 What the fuck is this shite? Romanov gets demoted to the prelims for this cack? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 17, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 17, 2022 but why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 17, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 17, 2022 I’m starting to think they just love making me keep editing the opening posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 19, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 19, 2022 Alexandr Romanov is disappearing before our eyes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 19, 2022 ok... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 19, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 19, 2022 https://twitter.com/BigMarcel24/status/1560664066623881218?t=EyHTlFdcTQrMCialrTW3Bg&s=19 few changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 20, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 20, 2022 (edited) Doing my usual and looking back at the first Usman vs Edwards fight from almost 7 years ago. I don’t think I actually saw this when it happened so I was looking forward to having a look at this. It went down in December 2015 on a ‘Big FOX’ card in Orlando. I think I mentioned in the opening post but this was actually on the Fight Pass prelims! But back then, these two were just starting their climb. Usman had just won TUF in the summer that year, so this was his first fight as an actual cemented UFC fighter. And Edwards had only been in the promotion a year and had 3 fights in the Octagon. Usman was 28 years old and 6-1 in his MMA career, Edwards was 24 with a 10-2 record. So not total greenhorns but definitely both still in that development stage and finding their feet in the big leagues. 2015 doesn’t seem that long ago but when you look at this card and see Francis Ngannou was in the curtain jerker spot opening up the Fight Pass stream, it puts things in perspective. And on a card featuring a Lightweight title fight, the long awaited Alistair Overeem vs Junior Dos Santos clash, Nate Diaz calling out Conor McGregor etc, a prelim between Usman and Edwards wasn’t much of a talking point back then. And this was in the days before I took the plunge and signed up to Fight Pass so I’m almost certain I never saw this fight. Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards UFC on FOX: Dos Anjos vs Cerrone 2 December 19th 2015 Orlando, Florida Again, it really hits home how long ago this was when you hear Mike Goldberg doing play-by-play. He’s with Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz for this one. Horrific. What did we ever do to deserve that team? Referee is Big Dan Miragliotta. Round 1: They go right into a clinch battle straight away and Edwards does a nice job of landing some strikes and circling away from the fence. Goldberg tells us that Edwards finished his training camp at AKA in California. Interesting. I don’t remember him ever being affiliated with them but if you were preparing to fight a wrestler back then, AKA was probably the place to go to get ready. Usman’s trying hard for a takedown but Leon’s doing well defending them so far. Edwards looking good early. Usman’s giving it back though. Usman finally gets that first takedown at about the halfway point of the round which is big for him because it was a bit of a stalemate round before that. Edwards is working for a triangle though. He doesn’t have it fully sunken in and his legs aren’t all the way tightened but he’s threatening with it and lands a sweet elbow from the bottom as well. Usman gets out of danger but Edwards manages to get back to his feet as the round comes to a close. Usman with a nice elbow on the feet and that’s the first round in the books. Close one. I’m guessing they’ll have scored it to Usman for the takedown and top control but he didn’t really damage Leon from top position and Edwards did land some strikes before that and had the triangle attempt. I think I’d actually lean towards Edwards 10-9 myself but it was close. Side note and I know I’ve said it before on here but I fucking hated those original Reebok fighter kits. Everyone either wearing black with a white stripe or white with a black stripe was arse. None of them were great but at least they added colour later on. These first ones where everyone looked like fucking chess pieces were rotten. Usman doesn’t sit down between rounds as we see Henri Hooft and Rafael ‘Feijao’ Cavalcante working his corner. I always forget Usman was part of the Blackzilians team back then. Round 2: They exchange a bit early on and Usman lands a left hand that is by far his best punch of the fight so far and appears to stun Edwards a bit. He’s immediately backing up but instead of capitalising on it with follow up strikes, Usman goes back to his bread and butter and takes him down. That’s where I think you’d see a big difference in today’s Usman. You can bet if he gets Edwards hurt like that in the rematch, he’s throwing bombs. His striking isn’t the best now and it’s not pretty but he’s way more confident in his hands now and has shown he does have the capability to occasionally throw the perfect punch. As we saw in his finishes against Burns and Masvidal. In 2015 though, he’d instinctively go the grappling route in those moments. It’s still working for him here but you can see he hasn’t quite put it all together at this point in his career. To be expected just 7 fights in though. You can see Edwards knows what to do here, as soon as he’s taken down he’s trying to scoot to the fence to work his way up, but Usman seems a step ahead. Edwards is still making it hard for Usman to inflict any significant damage though. It’s just a constant battle for position. Edwards back up again but he’s still stuck in a clinch battle that he doesn’t want to be in. Last minute now, they’re striking and Edwards knees him in the balls. The action stops and Miragliotta actually tells Usman that “most of the impact was in the stomach” and rushes him to continue. Let’s look at the replay… Yeah. You’re chatting shit, Big Daniel! To his credit, Usman soldiers on and doesn’t complain. Wouldn’t have blamed him if he did. They strike a bit in the clinch again and Usman gets another brief takedown at the end of the round. Definite Usman round that. So I’ve got them tied going into the last round but Usman could be up two rounds just as easily. Round 3: Striking to start but you can see now that Leon is a bit hesitant to let loose and leave himself open for the takedown. And it doesn’t take long for his concerns to be validated. The takedowns are starting to come easier with each attempt now as well. The constant grind of Usman’s clinching and wrestling approach seems to be catching up to Edwards. It hasn’t been a frantic pace but it’s been gruelling all the way. This is becoming utterly miserable for Edwards. Usman’s stuck to him like glue and just chipping away at him, hanging onto a waist lock and punching from the back, footstomps, knees to the legs and body. I’d genuinely rather get knocked out than suffer this. Usman’s upping the aggression now in the final minute of the fight. Just dragging Edwards about and punching and kneeing away at him until the round and fight mercifully ends. Probably wasn’t scored a 10-8 but that was a 10-8 for me. Usman didn’t do a ton of damage and was never close to finishing but it was complete dominance and Edwards got nothing done at all. So by my scoring on this watch, I’ve got it 29-27 for Usman. Winner - Kamaru Usman by unanimous decision. Official scorecards had two 29-28s and a 30-27. All reasonable and the right man definitely won. Wasn’t the most entertaining fight to watch but interesting to look back on with 2022 eyes ahead of the big rematch. I always think it’s cool when two fighters face off early on in their careers then meet again years down the line when they’ve both improved, both been through some shit and gained experience and the stakes are much higher. We’ve seen it before with Poirier vs Holloway and I think recent fights like Gamrot vs Tsarukyan could go the same way. We go again. They’re obviously both better now than they were in 2015. And the cool thing is, all either of them have done is win since the first fight. Usman’s winning streak started before he faced Edwards and he’s won 13 straight fights since, became champion, defended the belt 5 times and has started beating contenders twice. And for Edwards, his last loss was this first Usman fight. He’s had some rough times with inactivity, injury and just general bad luck with opponents dropping out and stuff but he’s gone unbeaten in 10 fights since he fought Usman. Despite the ups and downs, he’s kept finding ways to win. When it comes to this rematch, I’m having a hard time picking against Usman. He’s been so dialled in the last few years and looking at the division, as much as I’d love for Leon to pull this off tonight, I don’t see it. It could happen. It wouldn’t be the biggest upset we’ve ever seen. Wouldn’t even be the biggest upset in the last year. And at 35 now and with dodgy knees, you have to wonder how much longer Usman’s prime will last. He’ll probably be more willing to strike this time than the first fight. If that’s the case, Edwards is still gonna have the edge on the feet. He’s the better striker for sure. But even then, Usman’s power is the equaliser. I see Usman mixing it up just enough with his wrestling to keep Edwards guessing, and also landing the more hurtful shots enough to either take a decision or even get a finish. If he mostly stands though, I could honestly see Leon outpointing him but I think Usman’s too smart for that. And can Edwards avoid getting clipped the whole 25 minutes? Probably not. Just feels like Edwards is gonna have to be perfect the whole 5 rounds to walk away as champ here, whereas Usman only needs a perfect minute or even a perfect flurry or single punch. I still think the man to dethrone Usman might be Khamzat Chimaev or maybe even Shavkat Rakhmonov. Those are the really interesting fights for me. I’d be a bit surprised if Edwards is the one to end the reign of the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ but stranger things have definitely happened. Edited August 20, 2022 by wandshogun09 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted August 20, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 20, 2022 (edited) Edited August 20, 2022 by Egg Shen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 One of the craziest comebacks ever, aided incredibly by the commentary team digging Edwards' grave. "It'll be a moral victory to make it to the final horn-" Nope. Left high kick puts Usman's lights out. Unbelievable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panhead Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Oh my God. Best sport in the world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thevestofdeanambrose Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 So chuffed for Edwards man! Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted August 21, 2022 Author Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2022 Mental. Wasn’t completely writing him off but never expected him to actually do it. And certainly not in that fashion! So weird that a guy who literally trains 30 minutes from my front door is now the UFC champion and just knocked out one of the greatest Welterweights of all time and one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Seeing Leon breaking down calling his mum after the fight was a hell of a moment. Especially when you know his story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Scott Malbranque Posted August 21, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2022 I know it was Edwards' night but my goodness, Rockhold doing a Tyler Durden was stunning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members WeeAl Posted August 21, 2022 Paid Members Share Posted August 21, 2022 Stunned. Stunned beyond belief. . . . . .Costa Vs Rockhold made it into the cage, didn't end in the first round, and proceeded to be absolutely barmy from start to finish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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