The title fight that headlined UFC 286 in London went all the way, with a five-round majority win 48-46 twice and 47-47 going to Edwards. The Briton’s victory would have been unanimous if in the third round referee Herb Dean hadn’t deducted one point from him for grabbing the net.
The fighters spent most of the fight in a standing position, where Edwards actively handled the opponent’s legs and body with low and middle kicks, and also dangerously met him with his knees, preventing Usman from recklessly throwing himself at his feet. In addition, “Rocky” did not let himself lie down, and almost immediately rose to the rack, when the opponent still managed to transfer him.
In the co-main event, former interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje retained his place in the top three of the division, returning his career to a successful track in the confrontation with Rafael Fiziev.
In the first round, the speed of “Ataman” became a problem for the American, who did not keep up with the opponent and missed a lot, however, in the second five-minute period, Fiziev began to slow down, and Gaethje, on the contrary, found his distance and began to act sharply with a jab, connecting a crushing right uppercut.
In the final five-minute period, Justin Gaethje’s strikes turned Rafael Fiziev’s face into a bloody mask, and at the end of the match, the American transferred the Azerbaijani, putting an accented point in the match, and taking the victory by a majority of referee votes with a score of 29-28 twice and 28-28.
In the third most important event of the tournament, the Icelandic welterweight Gunnar Nelson finished in the first round with an elbow lever of the American Brian Barberen.
Among other results of the event, we note the unsuccessful performance of the Georgian middleweight Roman Dolidze, who lost a unanimous decision to the Italian Marvin Vettori, as well as another success of the undefeated native of Dagestan, Muhammad Mokaev, representing England, who finished the Brazilian Zhafel Filho with a broken neck in the third round.
Early victories were won by Jack Shore, Yanal Ashmoz, Christian Duncan and Jake Hadley.
All UFC 286 results.