On Saturday at UFC 286 in London, Leon Edwards defeated Nigeria’s Kamaru Usman via majority decision to retain his middleweight championship.
Two judges scored it 48-46 for Edwards, and the third scored it 47-47.
Edwards is undefeated in 12 straight fights and hasn’t lost since Usman beat him by unanimous decision in their first fight in 2015.
And for Usman, he won 15 straight fights in the UFC before losing his last two to Edwards.
It was the third meeting between Usman and Edwards, who came less than a minute away from a convincing defeat in their last meeting when he delivered a stunning head knockdown to finish Usman at UFC 278.
Edwards established himself with hard shots to the body and legs in the first, but Usman came out in the 2nd round, took Edwards to the mat and landed some hard shots on the ground.
Usman struck first in the third round, working a single leg before scoring in the first minute. Edwards was able to get back to his feet and headed for the cage, but referee Herb Dean gave Edwards a point for grabbing the fence as Usman pulled back.
He picked up the pace after the points were deducted, damaging Usman’s leg and body with several shots in the final two minutes of the round.
Edwards continued to work the leg kicks as the fourth round unfolded, causing some swelling on the inside of Usman’s leg. Usman went down late in the round, but Edwards limited the damage by quickly getting back to his feet.
With the fight seemingly over in the final round, the champion finally went to the head with his jabs and landed another big right hand.
Usman worked hard to get his opponent to the canvas and caught up to him with 90 seconds to go. But Edwards, as he had done throughout the fight, limited the damage by quickly escaping and getting back to his feet. In the final seconds of the fight, Usman again charged in, but the Brit rocked him again as the final buzzer sounded.