Michael Bisping spoke on his podcast about fellow countryman Leon Edwards, following his dominant win over Nate Diaz.
Leon Edwards was measured against Nate Diaz at the UFC 263 event, held at the Gila River Arena. It was a fight in the 170-pound frame and lasted five rounds. Although ‘Rocky’ was vastly superior in all areas and dominated for almost the entirety of the fight, at the end of the last round, Diaz managed to connect a punch that hurt him and had him staggering on the verge of being knocked out.
Bisping believes Edwards blew his big chance against Nate Diaz
Despite this last onslaught by the American, who also failed to take advantage; because instead of going for his opponent to finish the matter, he decided to mock and thus give him time to recover. Edwards managed to recover and hold on until they reached the end. He finished with a favorable 49-46, and owned the bout by unanimous decision.
But it seems that for some, this was not enough to give him credibility, nor to grant Leon a title shot. Although Dana White himself, prior to the fight, stated that the winner was the next challenger after Covington.
Michael Bisping, former 185-pound champion and current UFC commentator, referenced Edwards on his ‘Believe You Me’ podcast.
“Leon Edwards, what are you doing, he dominated the fight, don’t get me wrong. Diaz is a very tough opponent and he made him very entertaining the whole time. He kept teasing him, giving him the back, giving him those taunts and talking to him. Diaz makes all his fights exciting, that’s why he has so many fans. But Edwards dominated the whole fight and pretty much did nothing wrong. When they went to the clinch, he took him down with authority, beat him on the ground, hurt him with elbows, kicked his legs. But then he blows it in the fifth round and almost got knocked out.”
Bisping believes Edwards failed to capitalize on his opportunity against Diaz. It’s indisputable that he won the fight in a comfortable fashion. But what got people’s attention was the moment when Nate almost sent him to the canvas with one punch. Despite the final result, all eyes are on Diaz, while Edwards’ seems to have no relevance.
“This isn’t the worst thing for Leon Edwards, because obviously the worst scenario would have been if he got knocked out or lost the fight. But Leon needed to go out there and beat the crap out of Nate Diaz, stay with all his fans, and make a name for himself in MMA. Yes, Leon went up and beat him, but everyone is talking about Nate Diaz.”
With this recent win over the younger Diaz, ‘Rocky’ has now gone ten fights in a row without a loss. In fact, the last time he suffered a loss was in 2015, and it came at the hands of current 170-pound champion Kamaru Usman.
In his penultimate octagon appearance, he had a mishap with Belal Muhammad, and they were forced to drop the bout without a decision, due to an accidental eye poke.
But prior to this he had accumulated notable victories over very tough competitors in the division. Among which we can highlight his victories over Rafael Dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone, Vicente Luque, Gunnar Nelson.
“He needs a finish, he needs to get a finish. I’m not saying it from a negative standpoint, but it would shut a lot of people’s mouths. It would be a completely different discussion if he had finished Nate Diaz. I feel really sorry for him, because it doesn’t seem fair, something you don’t say in a combat sport. Everybody talks about Diaz and how tough he is, but they don’t talk about how Leon beat the hell out of him for four and a half rounds.”
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