Up until August 2022, Leon Edwards was perhaps the most overlooked name in the welterweight division. However, his KO win over Usman at UFC 278 and the subsequent domination of Usman once more at UFC 286 have made him a household name. But there is a glaring talking point from his third bout against Usman on March 18 and it is the blatant fence grabbing. It has not escaped the eyes of Colby Covington either.
In the third round of the London PPV, referee Herb Dean had to take a point away from Leon for fence grabbing. Usman was on the verge of securing a potential momentum-changing takedown. But Edwards managed to escape it by holding on to the fence. Although he lost one point for it, the incident allowed the bout to play out on the feet and Leon ended up with the win.
During his most recent interview with MMA FIGHTING, Colby finally had his say on the fight. He revealed that Leon Edwards was the clear winner on the night. However, Covington also labeled the Jamaican-born fighter as a “cheater” because of his tactic to hold on the fence.
He said, “He (Leon) is the biggest f**ing cheater in all the f**ing sports. Dude he comes out there, he pokes him in the eye, he hits him in the n*ts, he freaking you know grabs the fence, and then he grabs the fence (again) and Herb Dean stops it and takes the point away and then he tries to deny it to Herb in the world like whole world didn’t see it. That’s how f**ing dumb Leon Scott is.”
But the fence grabbing was not the only offense from Leon throughout the bout. Herb Dean also stopped the bout prior to that as Leon was holding on to the inside part of Kamaru’s gloves. Hence, Dean had to caution Leon against the action. So all in all, it was not the cleanest performance from Leon and Colby Covington agrees with it. However, Colby is not the only one to share the same opinion.
Henry Cejduo calls Leon Edwards’ fence-grabbing unfair
Henry Cejudo is one of the three male fighters in the UFC to hold two separate UFC titles in separate divisions. Although he retired in 2020, he is set to come back against the current UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling at UFC 286. Despite being busy with preparations for the upcoming title bout, Cejudo made a breakdown video and spoke about how Leon’s fence-grabbing impacted the fight.
He said, “Guys, that is unfair. Look at how much time there is left on the clock. Yeah, he did get one point deducted. But Kamaru Usman, going into the third could have been in a really good position to maybe potentially you know submit him or something along the lines. Or, make it a 10-8.”
Leon Edwards is seemingly set to fight Colby Covington at a later date. Although Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington do not get along well, they are quite alike in their fighting style. Both spam takedowns on their opponents with some striking mixed in between. So fans can expect Colby to use this as a weapon in his trash-talking leading up to the fight.
Even Dana White also called Leon’s actions unfair in the UFC 286 post-fight press conference. But what do you think of the situation? Do you think the point deduction was enough of a punishment for Leon Edwards at UFC 286? Let us know in the comments down below.
