UFC 286: Edwards vs Usman 3 - Mar 18 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

[Bruce85]

2 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said:

Fucking hell DC completely ruined that fight with his biased commentary for Usman.

He ruined the decision for me as well as he looked pissed after speaking to Dana prior to the announcement so you just knew Edwards won.

Yeah, I normally like DC but thought he was really poor tonight. It’s like him and Bisping were watching different fights! 
 

Close fight but I thought it was clear that Edwards won overall. I really don’t want to see him fight Colby, can’t stand his shite patter and he’s done nothing to warrant another shot. Absolutely tool of a human. 
 

 

 

[Egg Shen]

Unbelievable, you just never know in this sport. Edwards was outstanding.

[Egg Shen]

fighting Justin Gaethje is not good for you.

what a fight! it was never not going to deliver was it? Gaethje even saying the plan wasn't to get into a war 😄 the man's a maniac. Fiziev's stock goes up in defeat too, outstanding.

[wandshogun09]

Chuffed to see Leon Edwards win the trilogy. I really had a feeling that lightning couldn’t strike twice and that Usman was gonna get the belt back last night. I’m probably gonna be saying this a lot in this post but I wasn’t scoring this or paying as close attention as usual because we had friends over last night and they never left until late. Wife’s idea but I wasn’t not gonna have this show on in the background so they all had to put up with it. You come to my house and on any given day, at any given time, there’s about a 30-40% chance there’ll be a fight of some sort on the telly. And it shoots up to about 75% on Saturday nights. I make no apologies, deal with it or don’t come around 😂 but yeah, I wasn’t scoring properly. When it was over I definitely felt like Leon won but that point deduction was giving me doubts. Scorecards seemed a bit all over the place all night really but I did feel like the right man won here.

BOINK!

I haven’t read much in the way of fan or media opinions online today regarding this fight but was it just me or did Usman look a bit off here? Can’t put my finger on it but he just looked slower, more hesitant and just seemed more vulnerable in general. Could’ve been the KO last time playing on his mind, could’ve been just the fact that Leon himself was feeling it more this time and taking it to him more. Could’ve been a mix of a few things but that aura Usman had during his reign of dominance felt like it wasn’t there anymore. And he barely wrestled from what I remember. Which was a bit odd as that was where the majority of his success came in the first two fights. Maybe an injury? Whatever the case, he did warm into the fight as it went on, to the point it felt quite close by the time the scorecards were being read. But even without scoring it closely (gonna have to rewatch it sober and in peace), I think it would’ve felt wrong if Edwards never got the decision.

Leon vs Colby next then. Doesn’t feel like it makes much sense. Colby went AWOL after the Masvidal fight a year ago, only resurfacing when Jorge jumped him at that restaurant that time. But he’s done nothing for a whole year and 2 of his last 4 fights were already failed title shots. It’s weird how his ranking hasn’t really dropped over the last year despite his inactivity. On the flipside, he came in and made weight as the backup for this so I can see why they’re doing him a favour. And at least him and Leon is a fresh fight. We could’ve ended up with Usman vs Covington 3, which I’m not that arsed about, so it’ll do. Edwards is already saying Colby doesn’t deserve it though. And while I think he’s right and I’m a fan of him, he loses all credibility when he’s then saying fucking Masvidal is the fight he wants. Yeah, Colby’s been on a milk carton for a year but so has Masvidal. And he lost to Colby the last time we saw either of them! Neither of them deserve it but Dana’s made his mind up and that’s that.

Gaethje vs Fiziev delivered pretty much exactly as advertised. It was never not gonna be a barnburner was it? The only thing I hated about this was that it was only a 3 rounder. Can you fucking imagine if this was 5 rounds? It was incredible enough as it was, an extra 2 rounds might’ve pushed it into FOTY territory. I know it’s only March but I’d already put it #2 behind Makhachev vs Volk so far. Fantastic fight. Although, looking at that photo @Egg Shen posted of Fiziev there, another 10 minutes and his face might’ve actually fallen off.

One of the things I really loved about this was that we got to see another side of Fiziev. When you see Justin Gaethje’s name on a lineup you know exactly what you’re getting. It doesn’t seem to matter who he’s in there with, it’s gonna be chaos from start to finish. And either you can capitalise on his wildness and overwhelm him like Oliveira and Khabib were able to do, or you get stuck in an all out war with him like Poirier, Ferguson, Chandler and Alvarez did and then it’s a coin flip and you’re probably never gonna be quite the same again. With Fiziev, we knew he was a great striker and he’s been in a couple of scrappy battles already but Gaethje is basically the king of that type of fight. I knew it would be exciting but I wasn’t sure how this was gonna look. Fiziev was either gonna be too slick and fast for him or Gaethje was just gonna drag him into deep water and outlast him in a dogfight. Both turned out to be true really. The way the first round was going it looked like Fiziev was gonna outclass him with speed and superior technique. But Gaethje just wouldn’t fuck off and his shots clearly had more of a devastating effect as the fight went on. Wasn’t like Fiziev wasn’t still in it though. I think the visual of his face hanging off has given a lot of people a distorted take on it and I’m seeing a lot of talk like Gaethje dominated. I had him winning but it wasn’t an easy fight for either man. Was a cracker though. Not a clue where either go next. Maybe just do Gaethje vs Poirier 2?

Gunnar Nelson pissed through Barberena without much hassle at all. Looked like a Gunni performance from back when he had some buzz around him. Although this was a good matchup for him style-wise. I think we talked about it on here recently but Barberena stepping in on short notice for this one was a questionable move. He’s absolutely fearless and deserves credit for being game to jump in, especially with a strong grappler which isn’t a favourable style for ‘Bam Bam’. But it did feel like a bad move. I wouldn’t have fancied his chances with a full camp against Gunnar, much less late notice. And he was already coming off getting subbed by RDA in his last fight so the last thing he needed at this point was another grappler. Oh well. Not sure what’s next for Gunnar and he didn’t seem particularly fussed or enthusiastic about anything (does he ever?) in his post-fight interview. Seems like he’s content doing his thing outside the cage and he’ll just pop in sporadically for a payday here or there.

Jennifer Maia vs Casey O’Neill was nothing special but from what I saw it looked better than I expected going in. Granted, my expectations were rock bottom but it looked alright. They were both going for it at least. The bit of a Casey O’Neill hype train that was starting up has hit a brick wall already though. She had been on the shelf for a year but Maia really isn’t much good. Any legit prospect worth their salt should really be clearing this hurdle.

Vettori vs Dolidze was a solid main card opener. If it carried on the way it started we’d have had a real slobberknocker on our hands but it tapered off slightly as it went on and Vettori got back in the fight. Dolidze was looking lethal early on. Seen a lot of moaning about the decision and I heard the loud booing when Vettori got the decision but I’d have to rewatch it. I thought Dolidze might’ve edged it myself but we had people over and it wasn’t like I was scoring it closely or anything. Good scrap though. Vettori has settled into the middle of the pack at 185 but he’s proven a couple of times he can have really entertaining fights with the right dance partner. And Dolidze has quickly become a favourite of mine to watch. Middleweight isn’t the strongest division but these are two 185ers I’m usually happy to see on a card.

Chuffed to see Jack Shore bounce back from his first loss in style. Perfect first fight for his fresh start at Featherweight and managed to get the finish.

Good stuff. Bit of a slow start for Shore but he never looked in any real bother and I felt like he was always gonna hold up better at that pace down the stretch. I quite like Amirkhani but Shore would’ve had no business losing to him. Different level. Hopefully he can put that loss to Ricky Simon behind him and put a run together now at 145. He looked good here and there’s plenty of good matchups to make.

What the fuck was up with Yanal Ashmoz? Absolutely wrecked Sam Patterson before the fight even really got started.

Ran through him like a tornado. Patterson never stood a chance. Disaster of a debut for him and it was quite worrying to see how messed up he was after. He thought the fight was still going and was still trying to get underhooks on Marc Goddard as late as about a full minute after the fight was over. Scary. I’ve seen some criticism of Goddard for the stoppage and I can get why when you see how Patterson was after. But there were so many punches thrown in such a short space of time and Patterson was moving and trying to cover up in there. It looks bad with hindsight because of the scenes of Patterson trying to grapple his cornermen but in the moment I can see why Goddard held fire on jumping in. Hoping to see Ashmoz back in there soon.

Muhammad Mokaev stays unbeaten but, as seems to be becoming a regular occurrence in his fights, it wasn’t all plain sailing and he had some scary moments. That kneebar was fucking horrible!

Jaysus!

Was watching through my fingers expecting that leg to snap in half any second. Honestly thought we were heading for the leglock version of Mir vs Big Nog 2. For as much as Mokaev is still green and has his flaws, you can’t fault the kid’s heart. A lot of fighters would’ve tapped there. He probably should’ve really because for the sake of one fight here, he could’ve suffered long lasting damage to that knee and never been the same again. Even now we don’t know how bad that knee is now. But he gutted through it and found the finish himself.

You get the feeling he could’ve slipped that arm under the chin and properly sunk in the choke but opted to go with the face crank for maximum pain. There’s definitely a nasty streak in Mokaev. Not sure what’s next for him. Hopefully not surgery. Hopefully that kneebar looked worse than it actually was and he can push on with his career. Personally I’d like to see the Jake Hadley fight next (more on that in a bit) but Mokaev’s name dropping guys like Matheus Nicolau and Amir Albazi. I think it’s a bit too early for those fights myself but we’ll see what happens.

Really enjoyed that Lerone Murphy vs Gabriel Santos fight! Lost track of the scoring but I did feel like Santos was a bit unfortunate to not get the nod from the judges. Looking forward to seeing more of him though. He looked a bit of a beast here and he was stepping in on short notice against a tough guy in Murphy. I’ve seen Murphy and Nathaniel Wood have been going back and forth on Twitter with some awful patter. That was the originally planned fight for this card so it would make sense now to get that one rebooked. Count me in.

Christian Leroy Duncan’s debut didn’t exactly go as planned. He got the win but obviously not the way he’d have liked. Shame because Todorovic is a scrapper and they probably would’ve had a really fun fight but the leg injury meant it was over before it ever got going. Hopefully they get CLD back out quickly. Assuming he wasn’t banged up from training camp, he should be ready to go again on one of the upcoming cards. If there’s a silver lining for him here, I suppose at least he can get 2 paydays in a quick succession.

Jake Hadley continues to be good value on these undercards. Really can’t take to him despite him being a fellow Brummie. Just seems a right little twat but he’s been good to watch so far. Loved the body shot finish here.

He then ruined it by bowling around the cage looking like a right dickhead. Fair play though, it was a sweet finish. He got a $50K POTN bonus and because Gordon missed weight, Hadley also gets 30% of his purse as well. Not bad for a one minute fight.

This Hadley vs Mokaev thing keeps rumbling though. They’ve been having pops at each other since before either of them were in the UFC and they haven’t let up. Even here, I think the first words out of Hadley in his post-fight interview were about how it took Mokaev until the third round to finish Gordon and he beat him in a minute. Then both were asked about a potential fight by the media after the show and both took shots at each other again. Both are claiming the other has ducked the fight over the years. Mokaev flat out called Hadley a “crackhead from Birmingham”, Hadley says Mokaev’s been running from the fight for 7-8 years. Even though Mokaev would’ve only been 14 years old 8 years ago 😂 fuck knows? I wanna see it though. Sod saving it for a rainy day. There’s been too much said for it to be put on the backburner. Let’s see it now. Neither of them might ever get in title contention so what are we saving it for? They can always rematch down the road if need be but I wanna see it now. Mokaev’s saying it would be a “step backwards” for him though, which I don’t really get. Mokaev just fought an unranked guy who was making his UFC debut here. Hadley’s at least a step up from that. They’re around the same place in their careers at the moment. Get the fight on. If they’re coming back to the UK this year, stick Mokaev vs Hadley as the main card opener or something.

Joanne Wood winning is always nice to see but I didn’t enjoy the fight much. And it doesn’t exactly fill me with optimism about Wood’s future. Truth be told she was never gonna trouble the title picture but there was a time when I wanted to see her at least get a shot at it. But seeing her at 37 here, winning a bit of a lacklustre decision over a no hoper like Luana Carolina, it’s apparent that the ship’s likely sailed on Wood even getting into a position to get a title shot. Sad to say but I don’t think she picks up many wins any higher than even this level at this stage in her career.

Jai Herbert just seems doomed. What a weird UFC run. Came in at 10-1 as Cage Warriors champ and seemed to have some real potential. Since then he’s gone 1-3-1. Was on the wrong end of that ‘STOP THE FIGHT’ knockout against Trinaldo in his debut, the fight which sparked the Dan Hardy vs Herb Dean handbags, and it’s never got going for him since. Here it looked like he was finally on track to string 2 wins together and ends up sabotaging himself by getting a point deducted in the last round, forcing a draw. Seems like we’re gonna look back at Herbert’s UFC stint and the high point is gonna be that headkick he dropped Topuria with, in a fight he ended up getting sparked in himself. It’s just not happening for him.

Was happy to see Veronica Hardy return with a win. She’s going nowhere but, for as low level as this was, I kind of enjoyed it. Thought Juliana Miller looked terrible though. Completely out of her depth and not ready for the UFC at all. I remember thinking she looked decent in her UFC debut and I was favouring her in this one based on that and Hardy’s layoff. She looked crap though. Looking how she looked here, against a Hardy who’d been on the shelf 3 years and wasn’t that good even before that, doesn’t say much for the level of fighter coming through TUF these days. Nice to see Hardy get a win though.

Not gonna be card of the year but it was a good night of fights with plenty of talking points, some interesting debuts, some stuff rumbling for the future and the gift that was Gaethje vs Fiziev! 

Edited March 19, 2023 by wandshogun09

[Egg Shen]

1 hour ago, wandshogun09 said:

 

I haven’t read much in the way of fan or media opinions online today regarding this fight but was it just me or did Usman look a bit off here? 

 

I was watching along live with forum veteran @Silky Kisser and we both mentioned that Usman just didn't look able to match Leon physically which was a surprise because Usman's run at the top was punctuated by his physical dominance. At times it genuinely looked like Usman was fighting up a division. I don't know if it's because Usman has lost a step or if Edwards is just that good. The performance also led me to believe that the stuff about Leon struggling with the altitude in the second fight was probably true, there was no sign of Leon fading last night.

 

[wandshogun09]

Yeah I don’t think conditioning is a problem with Edwards. Even the last Usman fight with all the talk of high altitude, he got the finish in the last minute of the fight. The only time I remember him ever looking vulnerable late in a fight was when Nate walloped him but I don’t even think that was a stamina thing more just complacency and a lapse in defence.

Thinking back, the headkick KO in the second fight will obviously always be the moment that defines the trilogy, and Leon’s career. But as a performance as a whole, last night was Leon’s best of his career for me. 

[Egg Shen]

dang!

[wandshogun09]

Can you imagine if it would’ve happened again? I’m sure this was in the 5th round again as well. 

[Egg Shen]

yeah he definitely threw it in the 5th.

Mokaev's knee though...fucking hell:

He might be out some time. I love the idea of Mokaev/Hadley fight though, we dont get many bit all domestic fights, it could be pretty special.

[wandshogun09]

22 minutes ago, Egg Shen said:

I love the idea of Mokaev/Hadley fight though, we dont get many bit all domestic fights, it could be pretty special.

Yeah I’m all in on that one now. There’s definitely something there with those two. They just can’t stop taking digs. 

[David]

Interesting to see the fans online who were all so certain that Usman would simply walk in and take his title back after the "fluke" kick are now claiming Leon is trying to duck Colby by making noises that he would rather get the bigger money fight in Masvidal. You'd think he's the only guy in the sport who earns next to fuck all relatively speaking for the majority of his career, then wants to stack the dollars when he has some actual sway on what happens in the division.

Sorry, but winning the title and climbing to the top of the mountain isn't done so you can sit the belt on your fireplace and count all of the legacy points you now have in the bank. Winning the title opens doors to bigger fights with bigger paydays. Covington could be a decent earner, but lets be honest here, the biggest fight for Edwards is Masvidal. They have that funky history which kickstarted the whole irritating "three piece and a soda" bullshit that Masvidal and his fans dined out on for months.

Covington can come next. In fact, get him back in there against someone and have him cut a mental Trump-esque promo after the fight which will get the ball rolling.

But yeah, Masvidal is certainly the bigger fight for Edwards I think, so it makes sense he'd want to chase that down. Then there's Colby and even McG if he puts Chandler away in decent fashion.

Three big earning fights, and for the road he had to this point, the guy deserves to make that money. 

[wandshogun09]

I get all that. Most of the moaning is purely from people who don’t like Leon Edwards so they’re looking for anything negative they can latch onto. He’s not ducking anyone.

I understand why he’s pushing for the Masvidal fight. It’s the easiest fight to hype up so will sell better, there’s unfinished business there and it’s a fight Leon almost certainly wins at this stage. I wouldn’t be in love with it but I get why Leon wants it. My issue is Leon’s saying Colby doesn’t deserve it because he’s sat out a year. But then says Masvidal’s the fight. If his reasoning for telling Colby bollocks is his inactivity, Jorge has been inactive the exact same amount of time and lost to Colby.

It’s all pointless anyway because Dana’s made his mind up now. It’s Leon vs Colby no matter what. I hope Leon makes him beg for it first though. How the tables have turned…

[Bus Surfer]

I think Burns beats Masvidal comfortably at this point so Leon is better off going with Colby as it'll be a bigger fight than Gilbert anyway.

If he can get through that and the stars align nicely I'd love to see him get the McGregor payday too. I'll be fully honest and say I didn't think he was gonna beat Kamaru in the 3rd fight but fair fucks to him. He deserves to make as much coin as he can. 

[Egg Shen]

1 hour ago, David said:

Interesting to see the fans online who were all so certain that Usman would simply walk in and take his title back after the "fluke" kick are now claiming Leon is trying to duck Colby 

I'm not seeing much of that, im mostly seeing and hearing stuff that Colby doesn't deserve the shot.

Ideally for me i'd love to see Masvidal beat Burns and them have Edwards fight Masvidal on the next London show, that would be outstanding. I see Burns beating Jorge next though so my plan will go tits up.

[Carbomb]

I was hoping Edwards would face Masvidal first, because I'm still a bit wary that Cuntington could win against Edwards - he's only lost to prime Usman, remember. He's potentially the second best in the division, at present. I don't want Edwards losing the belt on his first defence before he's had a chance to make something with it, and certainly not to that wretched turd.