UFC 286 Recap: Leon Edwards Retains The Welterweight Championship

The UFC put on an event to remember for the London fans, especially as they saw their hometown favorite Leon Edwards was able to retain his welterweight championship in the rubber match against Kamaru Usman.

The fight between these two was absolutely sensational and was neck and neck throughout the entire contest. It was more of a feeling-out process at the beginning of the fight as Usman seemed to be tentative after what happened in their last encounter.

Things started to pick up as the fight progressed as Usman was being more aggressive and attempting takedowns where Edwards was able to defend most of the time. Edwards did hold onto the cage when getting taken down in round 3 which subsequently a point was taken away.

After that, it was all Edwards utilizing his kicks to keep Usman at distance to where he had trouble getting in range to land anything meaningful and to land takedowns. His newfound confidence after his last fight with Usman really showed in this fight as he defeated him via majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47).

UFC 286 Results

UFC 286 delivered with exciting fights from the prelims all the way to the main event in London, England. Check out the full results below:

Main Card

• Leon Edwards def. Kamaru Usman – via Majority Decision
• Justin Gaethje def. Rafael Fiziev – via Majority Decision
• Gunnar Nelson def. Bryan Barberena – via Armbar (4:51 Round 1)
• Jennifer Maia def. Casey O’Neill – via Unanimous Decision
• Marvin Vettori def. Roman Dolidze – via Unanimous Decision

Prelims

• Jack Shore def. Makwan Amirkhani – via Rear-Naked Choke (4:27 Round 2)
• Chris Duncan def. Omar Morales – via Split Decision
• Yanal Ashmoz def. Sam Patterson – via Knockout (1:15 Round 1)
• Muhammad Mokaev def. Jafel Filho – via Rear-Naked Choke (4:32 Round 3)
• Lerone Murphy def. Gabriel Santos – via Split Decision
• Christian Leroy Duncan def. Dusko Todorovic – via KO/TKO Knee Injury (1:52 Round 1)
• Jake Hadley def. Malcolm Gordon – via KO/TKO (1:01 Round 1)
• Joanne Wood def. Luana Carolina – via Split Decision
• Jai Herbert vs. L’udovit Klein – Majority Draw
• Veronica Hardy def. Juliana Miller – via Unanimous Decision

There were some great fights and great finishes throughout this contest. One finish that comes to mind was Jake Hadley’s body shot knockout of Malcolm Gordon just a minute into the fight. He really put his name on the map which will result in a ranked opponent next for him.

Also, we have to give props to Jack Shore who came back from injury, off a loss, and at a new weight class to get the victory against a veteran like Makwan Amirkhani. He showed he could fight through adversity early on and then take over late to get arguably the biggest win of his career.