London’s O2 Arena just wrapped up its highest-selling sporting event in the form of UFC 286. The event lived up to the hype and then some. From some of the quickest submissions to a 3-round co-main event war, the Brits witnessed so much more than they had anticipated. In the main event, Leon Edwards silenced the doubters as he triumphed to a decisive victory over Kamaru Usman in the rubber match.
However, this victory didn’t come as cleanly as the Birmingham resident would have liked it. In an unfortunate set of events, Leon found himself at the receiving end of a 1-point deduction. This was due to a blatant fence grab move he used in the 3rd round. Aside from this, the 31-year-old was involved in a blatant glove grab and an unintentional groin shot as well.
During the post-fight presser, when a reporter asked for his views on the point deduction, president Dana White shared,
“Yeah! Yeah, I mean that was a blatant fence grab that stopped the takedown. You gotta do it, especially when you look at stylistically how that fight goes. Usman’s thing is to wrestle and take him down. And obviously, Leon wants to stand up. He had to take that point,”
He further explained, “Was I happy to see it? I mean I don’t know if I was happy to see it. But, I’d rather that there’s no fouls and no points taken. I don’t ever like to see a guy in such an important fight lose a point. But, you can’t blatantly grab the fence the way that he did.”
How did Leon Edwards’ illegal moves impact the fight?
With the main event coming to a close, fans haven’t stopped buzzing about its result and all the hoopla surrounding it. Even though Leon wouldn’t have liked to close out the trilogy with any doubt in fans’ minds, his blatantly illegal moves certainly didn’t help him with the same. Despite the fight being razor-close, fans might always wonder about “what could have been.”
Leon’s fence grab is the most talked-about thing in the MMA community right now. However, people seem to forget that the Jamaican-born also blatantly grabbed Usman’s right glove in the very 1st round. Aside from this, Leon did something that fans would have never expected him to do. In the 3rd round, as soon as Kamaru grabbed a hold of Edwards’ back, Leon immediately hooked his fingers into the cage, stalling the Nigerian’s advancements.
“I have to take the point.”
Huge scenes in Round 3 as Edwards gets the point deducted after a fence grab.
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— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 18, 2023
Fans can make the argument that when ‘Rocky’ grabbed the glove and the fence, he was up against the cage during both those times. Had he not blatantly performed those moves, Kamaru could have advanced into much better positions, for potential takedowns were in hindsight. Fans and analysts alike, everyone took to their social media to back Herb Dean and his decision.
Fans react to the blatant fence grabbing
As soon as they saw Leon’s illegal fence grabbing, fans took over to their social media to voice their opinion, and most of them aren’t in the welterweight champion’s favor. The MMA community has a fanbase that “tells you like it is” and tonight was no different.
Shamefully
— ahmEdoo🥷🏽 (@ahmvdfarouk) March 19, 2023
LEON IS A CHEATER
— dylan🇳🇿 (@nutbaruno) March 18, 2023
Two dick kicks, one glove grab and holding on to the cage to prevent a takedown?!? On the only thing that is controversial is the fact you think is a controversial points deduction. Should have been more
— Darryl “George” Burleigh (@darrylburleigh) March 19, 2023
Cheater 😂 and was running from Usman all day
— ZougatakaSukataga (@liliafes90) March 19, 2023
Dirty fighter
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 18, 2023
It is worth mentioning that this wasn’t the first time Leon had grabbed the fence while Usman held onto his back. What are your views on the infamous point deduction? Do you think the fight would have played out differently with the absence of Leon’s illegal moves in it? Let us know in the comments down below.
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