Leon Edwards did everything in his power -- including bending and breaking several rules -- to retain his welterweight championship over five hard rounds in the main event of UFC 286 in London on Saturday evening. Edwards managed to edge out Kamaru Usman by majority decision, finally establishing himself as the best 170-pound fighter in the world.
There were doubts to Edwards' claim to the throne when it took until the final minute of his fight with Usman at UFC 278 to land a head kick knockout in a fight Usman had largely dominated.
In this meeting, Edwards got off to a fantastic start, managing distance well and dominating the striking exchanges. His most effective shots were kicks to the body and legs, which may well have been a tool Edwards was using to set up another head kick, like the one that won him the welterweight championship in his previous meeting with Usman.
A knee to the chin by Edwards was the first shot of the night to wobble either fighter, briefly putting Usman on rubber legs. Usman showed that his chin was not destroyed by the aforementioned head kick by firing back with a big right hand, scoring a takedown and landing a big flurry of punches to the head as Edwards worked back to his feet.
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Usman continued to dial in on his wrestling going forward, leading to a big moment in the fight as Edwards used a fence grab to prevent being taken down. Referee Herb Dean immediately stopped the action and took a point from Edwards as the illegal move prevented Usman from scoring the takedown. Edwards nearly lost a second point in the round after landing his second low blow of the fight, which was added to a glove grab that had earned him a warning.
In the final round, Edwards finally threw the head kick he'd been setting up all fight, mixing it in between uppercuts and straight punches. It was Edwards' ability to defend takedowns that was key in the fifth of five very close rounds, constantly defending against Usman shots and quickly bouncing back to his feet when he was taken to the canvas.
As the fight went to the scorecards, it seemed either man could take the decision -- or the Edwards point deduction could have led to a draw.
Instead, it was Edwards retaining by majority decision, drawing wild cheers from the London crowd as the official scores of 48-46, 48-46 and 47-47 were read.
Two-time former welterweight title challenger Colby Covington was cageside for the event and had weighed in Friday as the UFC's backup should either man in the main event not make it to fight night. While interviewed after his victory, Edwards was asked about the possibility of his next title defense coming against Covington, which he quickly blew of, instead suggesting he may head to UFC 287 to catch the welterweight co-main event between Gilbert Burns and Jorge Masvidal.
"That man sat out for like a year and a half, two years," Edwards said of Covington. "He ain't fought nobody. I might take a little trip to Miami and ... I'll see what's going on from there."
Covington has only fought once, a decision win over Masvidal, since his second loss to Usman in November 2021.
As for Usman, there were some concerns the former champion could decide to retire from active competition should he fail to regain the welterweight title. Usman shot down any idea of such a move in the aftermath of the loss, saying he intended to make another run at the title in the near future.
Elsewhere, Justin Gaethje proved he's still got some tread left on those tires. The former lightweight title challenger grinded out a bloody decision over Rafael Fiziev in the co-main event that was as exciting as expected. Gaethje was wobbled multiple times in the first round but never wavered. He slowly worked himself back into the fight before eventually taking a majority decision. Gaethje said he plans on one final run at the 155-pound title before laying down the gloves and heading into retirement.
CBS Sports was with you the entire way on Saturday bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 286 below.
UFC 286 card and results
- Leon Edwards (c) def. Kamaru Usman via majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47)
- Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev via majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
- Gunnar Nelson def. Bryan Barberena via first-round submission (armbar)
- Jennifer Maia def. Casey O'Neill via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Marvin Vettori def. Roman Dolidze via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Jack Shore def. Makwan Amirkhani via second-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Chris Duncan def. Omar Morales via split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
- Yanal Ashmoz def. Sam Patterson via first-round TKO (punches)
- Muhammad Mokaev def. Jafel Filho via third-round submission (rear naked choke)
- Lerone Murphy vs. Gabriel Santos via split decision (28-29, 29-28, 29-28)
- Christian Leroy Duncan def. Dusko Todorovic via first-round TKO (injury)
- Jake Hadley def. Malcolm Gordon via first-round TKO (punches)
- Joanne Wood def. Luana Carolina via split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
- Ludovit Klein vs. Jai Herbert ends in a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
- Veronica Macedo def. Julianna Miller via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)