How Good is Leon Edwards?

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Leon Edwards is such a difficult puzzle to solve. He’s fast, he’s strong, and he’s clever. A natural striker, a black belt in Jiu Jitsu, and now a man that’s out grappling the Americans with all the wrestling credentials. His only glaring weakness is his lack of output and pace. With a win over Colby Chaos Covington at UFC 296, a man many thought would break Edwards through relentless pressure weaponisng his conditioning through both striking and grappling, it’s looking like is could be the rocky era but the same critics are pointing to the lack of finishes in Edwards run labelling him a boring fighter.
Do you think he's boring? Or do you think it's up to the challenger or the man that's losing to bring the fight to the champion?
Let me know what you think below!
#prostriking #leonedwards #rocky #mma #ufc #welterweights

[@itsarecession1]

Ain't nobody beating Leon. His understanding of distance and ranges is second to none in his division. Only shavkat can give him problems but I think if Leon steps on the gas everyone else gets smoked.

[@jengofetlupa44]

I think it will take one of the new up and coming fighters like Shavkat, Ian Garry, JDM, Khamzat if he ever comes back down etc cause they are young and have time to improve and round out their games and study Leon who will be getting on a bit by the time they fight. These current guys Burns, Colby, Usman etc are all pretty one dimensional and aging.

[@micahbodha6129]

Garry & JDM would lose 10 times out of 10 vs Leon. Khamzant will never fight welterweight again. Shavkat can be hit and his style of takedown is what Rocky can stuff. Leon's low output per round is his achilles heal though.

[@jengofetlupa44]

@@micahbodha6129 Overating Leon a tad bit, he beats JDM and Garry right now but they are young and can still develop their games. Shavkat probably beats Leon with grappling, he will get him down eventually and unlike Usman and Colby will keep him there and submit him. Sean Brady after that last fight is also an interesting proposition. All this is assuming Leon gets past Belal, after all the upsets we’ve had this year anything is possible.

[@wasabi5338]

which is unfortunate, second most boring fighter in ww. had the chance to make another highlight reel KO out of colby who is having the worst performance of his career, yet belal'd him and even got taken down at the end of the round.

[@RicStaR2410]

Leon is an incredible fighter, but he is quite slow and does a similar thing to what Adesanya has been doing for a while now. I mean, they don’t take a lot of damage or unnecessary damage so good on them. I think a lot more people will start fighting like this in the future when the striking levels get so high and they look back at all the CTE everyone from the barn burner days have and they think, like Leon, I’m winning rounds. Even Nate is badly brain damaged and he isn’t even that old, Tony has taken way too much damage. We all love to see these guys fight, but their brains aren’t going on for long. Adesanya has had some real tough fights though that brought the dog out, well one really and that was Gastelum. He went to war in that fight and showed he did have it, Leon could do with one of those dog fights, and I’m sure Shavkat will bring it out. He won’t be able to just coast against that guy, he’s a wrecking ball, and will need to be finished to stop him I think, so someone will get finished in that fight. We shall see. I don’t think Belal stands a chance against him, I think he would have finished Belal early on in that fight they had, he was messing him up badly.

[@draco2xx]

leon has the potential to become interesting entertaining fighter but he just needs to unlock that killer instinct be more aggressive from the get go. he only unlocks his killer instincts when he's losing but if he's winning he just cruises

[@adamturner4223]

Why risk damage if you can win

[@sugarkain2291]

he's aiming for GOAT status. Honestly tho I still find his style beautiful to watch

[@CrawlingNYourSkull1]

he already defended twice against Usman and Colby, he's already beat gsp record

[@lizzog4553]

@@sugarkain2291me too I always loved watching Leon and he’s one of my favorite if not my favorite fighter to watch but to each their own I guess

[@discipleaj]

Awesome vid!. I cant stand it when people say a fighter is boring, especially when its the CHAMP they're talking about. Well, heres a change of perspective; maybe he's boring because no one is interesting enough for him to get out of 3rd gear and up into 6th. Furthermore, the idea is to hit and not get hit, to take as minimal damage as possible whilst making your opponents face (and body) look like a horror story. I find its often those who have no training and no fighting experience who say crap like "hes boring". I'm like "fella, go get hit a few times by a PRO, then come back and tell me how much you cant wait to have a war with them in the ring/cage". These people hurt my brain 😂🤦🏻‍♂️ Finally, tomorrow is Superbon vs Tawanchai on ONE 👊🏻🔥👊🏻💥. Are you going to be watching that?

[@spencere821]

I love this comment. You’re 100% right. Nothing worse than MMA fans that don’t even practice this sport or any martial art in any capacity. They’re usually the loudest and the dumbest.

[@MorAodhan]

I like the clinics Leon puts on and the skills he shows, I don't really care what the majority of _'casual'_ (there's the buzzword) fans think about him. Martial Artist's know how good he is. However, in terms of the respect he's due and his legacy, I think he'll need a few more finishes. If I'm honest, the only guy I care about him finishing is Belal, he's annoying and talks too much.

[@prostriking]

Big respect for this comment! Ye he needs a few more headshot dead soundbites to win over the fans but i think he can do it! Thanks again for watching the video!

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

Your brief personal note on getting the better against Leon, "for a second" and immediately being put on your ass (you being a pure Muay Thai guy) --- because Leon is into MMA, not pure Muay Thai or pure wrestling or pure BJJ, etc) ---- is what people DON'T SEEM to understand about Leon. As you said, Leon has THAT SUPERIOR MMA IQ, that most people, even most elite MMA fighters, don't. Because he's so well rounded, Leon could go to Plan B immediately if Plan A is not working, during a particular stretch of the fight, or is not working with a fighter... or that fighter's ONE strength. We normally think of Leon as an elite striker. AND HE IS. But his striking doesn't always work or work well against all opponents, at all times. Look at Leon's fight with that Russian guy, Albert Tumenov, back in 2016. Both were going competitively against each other; and, then, for some reason, Leon was being pieced up in round three... and whatever he was doing, Tumenov just kept popping Leon in the face! Leon immediately turned to Plan B: he resorted to wrestling & took Tumenov down and subbed him via a rear naked choke. And that was back in 2016, just one year after he lost to Usman, due to Usman's elite Greco Roman wrestling: from even his journey years, Leon knew he HAD to upgrade all the major tools in MMA. His striking/Muay Thai was already very good even back then; but his wrestling, TDD, and BJJ were just so-so. And, so, unlike others who waste time doing WWE videos and other BS, Leon put his head down and worked long hours to improve the major MMA skills he knew he MUST improve on... 7 years later, he took the elite D2 Usman down --- someone even the elite D1 Colby couldn't take down --- mounted him, and took his back. 2 years after that, he also took the elite D1 Colby down, & took his back, too... in 2 out of 3 attempts (whereas the D1 guy needed to do up to 10 attempts to get Leon down just twice). That, again, should tell people ---- as you said on this video ---- that Leon is NOT going to be an easy guy to defeat, at his peak.... because he really does have different gears to operate with, does have different elite tools to go to.... if one doesn't work well enough, against a certain fighter, against a certain style the opponent is using, or against a fighter at a certain stretch of the fight (be it 1st or 5th round).... But if there is ONE "weakness" about Leon is his LACKADAISICAL approach.... especially in fights he's way ahead. Towards the end of those fights ---- fights that he is comfortably ahead ---- Leon has this HABIT of winding down and being lack luster. Imaging Leon using that LACKADAISICAL approach against Shavkat, who is as big, as tall, as strong, as athletic as Leon but who is 3 years younger, who is hungrier than Leon ... but a Shavkat who always is, from beginning to end, on the hunt for a KO or a Sub, with 100% success rate in 18 pro MMA fights... a Shavkat who HAS THE SKILLS ---- via the fists, elbows, knees, shins... a Shavkat who has size & the strength & the height & the athleticism, as does Leon ---- to do 100% finishes, standing or on the mat...

[@adamturner4223]

He doesn’t really wind down at the end of fights he headkicked Usman in the 5th

[@prostriking]

Love this comment, thank you! I think that Shvkat fight is the fight to make! It would be such a chess match that would come down to who wants it more or who has the better gameplan as i think they both match each other in every area. Leon is faster and a better kicker, shavkat has the better boxing with much higher volume, shavkat has better iffensive wrestling but leon has unreal defensive wrestling, both have a submission threat, shavkat is very hittable, leon doesn't like a high pace. A lot of strengths and a few weaknesses on both sides makes for a great fight!

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

@@adamturner4223 He was 3.5 rounds behind Usman in that second Usman fight. Leon & coaches knew he needed a finish. And that's what he did, just 1 minute left, in that fight. Again, it's fights he's comfortably ahead that he's lackadaisical. Again, Shavkat is 100% opposite of that: whether it's hurt or well head, Shavkat always looks to finish an opponent, which he has done all up to this point. Of course, finishing Top 10 or Top 15... is easier then finishing Top 5 or the Champ... Point is, Shavkat ACTIVELY looks to finish his opponent. Leon, if he didn't fight with stars in his eyes, for example, would EASILY have finished Nate Diaz more than a few times in their odd 5 round exhibition fight, where he EASILY punched him, kicked him, tripped him, hip tossed him, Greco Romaned him to the mat & mounted him & took his back, etc. Nate wouldn't have last more than 2 rounds against Shavkat or Khamzat. Nate is very good, with elite BJJ; but he isn't very strong and isn't very fast. Yet, because of Leon's proclivity for being lackadaisical, Nate got ONE hard punch in, in 25 minutes and it was in the last minute & it came exceptionally close to derailing Leon's entire MMA career (at least as far as championship fights went)... In the Colby fight: by 5th round, both of Colby's legs were shot. If Leon had continued kicking, he likely would have literally chopped down the old, slow, and compromised D1 and there was ZERO MAGA man could have done, in terms of physically getting to Leon for a take down...

[@kiabtoomlauj6249]

@@prostriking Yes. I've been saying Leon WOULD become champ since I saw him beating RDA with a bigger margin than did Colby, when Leon was merely just breaking into the Top 15, back in 2018/19. I remember, 3/4 years ago, making a highly passionate comment AGAINST Michael Bisping, when he, Nick and Adam were dong their previews of "Whose going to be champ at the end of...." That goofy video of theirs was for the "end of the year" of 2022: Nick picked Shavkat or some other "dark horse"... Adam picked someone else. Bisping picked Leon but he did it, HE SAID IT HIMSELF, as a joke. He giggle and actually said, "I picked Leon.... because he's another Brit.... but I know he's not going to become champ at the end of 2022..." more giggles. I immediately worte a rather lengthy piece, as I always do, on a subject matter I really am into.... saying THAT WAS JUST SO DISRESPECTFUL for the former champ, Bisping, to do. I said Bisping did NOT have to pick Leon... even if it's for giggles; he could have picked someone else. But, no, Bisping picked Leon to be champ by the end of 2022... AS A JOKE, he said! Anyway, that video likely is still on their archive. Remember, the three did it when they're doing videos under their previous channel, BRITISH SPORT, I believe... so now all those vids must have been transferred to their current British TNT broadcasting archive...

[@BigPoppaSufi]

He’s very good

[@CrawlingNYourSkull1]

Imagine if he did the same to RDA and Cerrone bloodying them up, he would definitely made Colby eat his words. Hopefully Leon can fight colby again and maybe finish him next time.

[@fantasma.b]

Ppl that complain about his fights, dont understand the chess match thats going on in there.

[@alexolivares7972]

In trying to be better than GSP, Leon is just like GSP. Taking the safest route to win rather than seeking the finish. I understand it, but as a fan of violence it's frustrating. Especially knowing his athletic ability.

[@PiffFighting]

He’s number 1 pound for pound in my opinion he beats everyone the same way Diaz Colby RDA agree with pretty much everything you’re saying

[@prostriking]

Thanks for the reply! Ye i think he has great case for p4p with his current winning streak! Him vs Islam would be an interesting fight!

[@PiffFighting]

@@prostriking I think he beats Islam same way he beat the rest but would be a good fight for Rocky to get some respect on his name

[@CrawlingNYourSkull1]

@@PiffFighting Islam would get destroyed, he got smoked by a volk

[@Thijszz]

Leon is amazing but playing a dangerous game. He must be aware i would think since he snatched the title in round 5 from Usman and is giving others chances himself in round 5.