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Leon Edwards will try to mute the masses here as the road favorite [Applause] tonight Nate Diaz in white Leon Edwards in Black Southpaw versus Southpaw and we spoke Paul to Leon about that he has been very successful fighting fellow southpaws in his career yeah he likes it you it opens figh Orthodox yeah he switches yeah it opens up the leg kicks for him and he knew that could be a big tool tonight especially as the fight goes on if you don’t get Diaz out of there you want to just start wearing on him because he’s not an easy guy to put away well Leon Edwards can do everything I mean it’s it’s a real weird situation when you get a guy who’s that skillful who really hasn’t had the opportunities and who who’s in the top four of the division it’s kind of crazy but widely respected little gamesmanship from Nate Diaz early and many flurries see this is smart for Nate though he’s trying to make it awkward and unorthodox in there play with the head a little bit of Leon Edwards cuz if you just stand there and you try to have a straight up kickboxing match with him you’re you’re going to lose and you see how Leon’s showing him all sorts of different looks beautiful leg kick second [Applause] one three lands now for Leon Edwards to that lead leg of Diaz yeah you’re already seeing the redness on that leg below the [Applause] shorts it’s just the Precision of Leon Edwards and the technique always in good position with his feet and foot work very difficult to hit [Applause] cleanly two minutes have ripped off the round one clock Edwards trying to close the distance here it’s a real treat that this is a five round fight too right cuz it’s so unusual to have a you know not even in the co-main right but the one before that not for a title five rounds this has never happened before we part of [Applause] History Diaz with a front kick ooh glancing left hand there from Leon Diaz acknowledging as much look how smooth he moves away from the kick of Nate and then lands his own body shot from Diaz and then some nice head movement from Nate as [Applause] well oh good shot by Nate Nate lands see and this is what Leon hopefully has prepared for right knowing that this crowd anything that Nate’s going to do they’re going to get behind him you can get overwhelming in there it’s a big spot to be in can only [Applause] imagine nice work there from Edwards takes the back look at this Leon takes his back that’s tremendous that’s a big moment right there [Applause] folks if Leon Edwards could submit Nate crazy that would be wild he’s on the back he’s got one hook in but he’s got his legs cranked together Nate’s uh defending with that right leg trying to keep that second Hook from getting sunk [Applause] in Diaz trying to scramble back to his feet Edwards still working off the back he gets under the neck here yeah he was trying to yeah good job from Nate to defend that well Nate Nate has tremendous jiujitsu Nate scrambling Leon’s controlling Leon’s going with him rolling with [Applause] him good left hand there but great Movement by Nate got back to guard here and and he’s going to let him stand back up yeah pretty good job by Diaz minimizing the damage on the ground final seconds of round one here and again Edwards back to work with that calf kick here’s some low leg kicks early for Lon and a good right hand and a straight left behind it and this is a nice shot by Nate Diaz he hit him with that right hand g a big smile what an atmosphere inside this hila River Arena in Glendale Arizona round two now Nate Diaz and Leon [Applause] Edwards so these Edwards leg kicks have been a big part of the narrative on his side offensively and they’re having an [Applause] effect oh [Music] yeah [Applause] so Nate Diaz now has passed five hours of octagon time becoming the 21st UFC fighter to do [Applause] so Nate has always had such a boxing heavy style in terms of his attack that he’s been susceptible to leg kicks in the past particularly the hael Dos angos fight HL just really lit that leg up look at this look like like both Fighters landed right hands there they just having fun those leg kicks aren’t fun but it’s been a couple years from him you know we haven’t seen him inside the Octagon since 2019 Diaz made his Pro debut at 19 years old in 2004 still going strong absorbs another leg kick there that leg is looking pretty gross [Applause] Edwards fairly measured in his striking approach thus far but landing 50% of his offerings nice connection there with the right inside leg kick for Diaz that was a strong one right there very strong by Leon Nate’s playing mind games with him he’s like come on oh oh [Applause] oh yeah interesting approach here from from Nate to kind of do this walk away almost yeah he bending over wants to get him to think and get in his head he doesn’t want him to just snipe at him nice another nice take down there from [Applause] Leon wondering if Edwards is feeling the strength down here you know he’s definitely the bigger welterweight of the two and like we talked about he’s not just a kickboxer he very well-rounded good Grappler yeah he has no weakness in his game last man to beat him of course as many of you know Kamar Usman in 2015 uh-oh uh-oh leg attack got to watch that fence grab he’s going to lose a point if he keeps doing that cuz that’s a you know if you’re stuck in something like a a bad situation he’s in a bad situation oh he’s out Beau job beautiful job Diaz right back to work on the feet under 90 seconds to go in round two but that might have oh oh my goodness oh that one stung that one hurt it switches to orthodox briefly looked like that one caused almost a little divot in that leg of what he’s doing is just trying to play he’s trying to get the guy to do something that that is unorthodox oh good shot by Leon he’s trying to get him to do something out of out of character out of yep maybe taking a page pissed off a little bit too [Applause] brother gamesmanship with a with a guy like Nate is a very important part of the strategy I mean that’s why they talk so much trash and good left hand there by Nate now see it’s working right get him swinging he’s getting him to swing with him exactly and gets him think forgetting about that leg that he almost just couldn’t even walk on yeah that’s exactly what Nate’s doing and N he’s getting him to exchange and now he’s going in for his own takedown here Diaz has looked fairly strong in these clinch situations tonight yeah and that leing tanglement that they were involved in shows you there’s some real Danger on the ground in particular with Nate Diaz and maybe that’s his best bet to try to win this fight feels a whole lot like a main evento ooh spinning back elbow there fromed right let’s take a look at some of these leg kicks that began some of the damage and there’s one that we’re going to see here where you can visibly see Nate barely able to walk on it that one right there that that staggered him you even see the expression on his face and then more importantly Edwards is mixing things up beautifully he’s not just attacking that leg he’s not just standing and striking he’s taken Nate down at least twice controlled him there and was able to escape a heel hook attempt that’s [Applause] right oh oh yeah I was waiting to to start see the elbow game of Leon Edwards when they get in close he is really really good at breaking the exchanges with an elbow as they break the clinch oh left hand fantastic Diaz said that was good but the beautiful thing about Diaz is his stock never goes down because he always fights like this he could lose he could win his stock always Rises people love him oh man that’s another one that that that caps in [Music] trouble Bol muhammd and other Fighters have talked about dealing with that calf issue as a toughness thing obviously there’s a nerve issue for some but if anybody can bite down on the mouthpiece and fight through it it’s probably [Applause] Nate and expect Nate to start turning it up as this fight progresses into this third round if we get into the fourth round this is what I believe he wants he wants to wear on Leon a little bit let him strike he’s talking to him in the clinch right now well we got to remember Leon hasn’t really had a long fight in a long time he had the fight with Bal Muhammad it was ended early in an ie pooke before that he hadn’t fought since 2019 so July of 2019 and that was that main event against Rafael dosan in which he lost the fifth round Donald Cerrone also came on strong against Edwards in their five round Main Event in 2018 but man no wasted motion from Leon Edwards everything is well thought and largely well delivered yeah he’s such a technician but that’s one of the reasons why Nate wants to get inside of his head and mess with him and play and and turn it into something complicated now they’re on the ground again and Leon’s got to be real careful that right leg Edwards trying to make some of these ground strikes count three for four on his takedowns thus far see some blood yep oh boy nice elbow there from lot lot of blood now yeah that scar is open open up Leon’s cutting him open 209 to go on the round lot of blood man Edwards back to his feet he’s got blood on his head he’s cut over his face oh that’s a giant cut in the side of his head yeah hey but you know what as far as Nate’s concerned that’s probably the best spot for him to be cut right now although it looks like that eyebrows also split open oh wow the cup is hanging out I’ve never seen that before herb said adjust your C Diaz with his patented Flex for the crowd Nate Leon tried to touch clubs Nate gave him two fingers now we got a Nate Diaz fight on our hands it wasn’t going to be the same unless he was Dripping a little of his own blood well and a lot of people who forecasted a stoppage on either side were wor worried about this Scar Tissue both the brothers have dealt with it well it’s not just Scar Tissue the one on the side of the head looks like he got hit with a machete yeah that’s brand new that’s new stuff and that’s just the slicing elbows of Leon but this doesn’t bother Nate Diaz a bit right I mean a lot of Fighters lose their composure when the Blood starts leaking their eye Nate barely seems to notice it back down to the ground again Nate again going for that leg Nate’s one of those Northern California guys and they were some of the first guys to really adopt leg locks in Brazilian jiu-jitsu the the Dave Terrell camp and a lot of those Northern California guys were real Pioneers the real bad cut guys is on the front of his face yeah yeah well the eye is bad everything’s bad I think there’s multiple Cuts there but that left eye looks terrible and you can be sure Herb Dean is going to call in the ringside position but Nate gets back to his feet oh spinning elbow beautifully done by Leon Edwards Nate dismissive of that shot down the stretch of round [Applause] three round four coming up we’ll see the elbow here sliced him here ohom perfect yeah perfect placement of the elbow but you see how easy that just popped open I mean that’s so much Scar Tissue oh wow doing good two more rounds you got it get off walking around get down low andow his that’s you got to get on him come with right there [Music] when you guys are close on Space let’s start using those faints cuz he’s starting to take a bite on him every time do you understand every time we just got to get on this guy deep ice yeah yeah it keeps I think the zipper broke got nice job by the cut man it was the right eye of Nate Diaz that was compromised and resulted in that Jorge Midol stoppage that was back at UFC 244 in November of 2019 now that left eye Bears watching round four of a possible five he may have more Scar Tissue than anybody competing inside the [Applause] Octagon good kick up the middle by Leon and at this pace that Leon is fighting at I’m not too worried about that big Connection by Diaz a moment ago he is as game as they come saw some blood go flying I was just double check here [Applause] guys yeah we know Nate you can never count him out of a fight ever I mean he he waits for these fourth and fifth rounds he waits for himself covered in blood and he has tremendous cardio try ass L [Applause] baby oh my goodness from Edwards again acknowledged by Nate he gave him the thumbs up is that [Applause] crazy Diaz still having [Applause] fun barely breathing heavy for the record good counter right by Leon Leon just showing so much patience in this fight so much patience in so many different looks like here he is orthodox just as effective switches effortlessly to Southpaw look at that straight left wow sneaky little [Applause] trip good job you know how much respect Nate had for Leon just by the nature of this fight coming together well he recognized that this is a big top Contender and those are the kind of fights that get Nate excited at this point in his career [Applause] he’s not interested in fighting someone that’s going to be an easy fight he wants to fight the best of the world cuz he considers himself one of the best in the [Applause] [Music] world another Land There by Edwards with the left hand as we come up on two minutes here to go in round four two championship fights to follow here in Arizona that would have been bad Jo oh swinging a Miss with a giant [Music] elbow when it comes to those exchanges in close I mean even Andre Ward who was a you know two time two division world champion in Olympic gold medalist said he had a lot of trouble with Nate that Nate was really awkward and that his punches come from crazy angles and that he gave him a lot of work and training which is High Praise yeah I’ll say and yeah that me that’s what makes him so difficult to deal with is he’s not just coming at you with the normal boxing stance they come especially the way they just rip the body and then come with these hooks upstairs throwing multiple punches in combinations their hands down sometimes taunting you talking trash giving you the finger yeah and most of these punches are coming from that position of the hands down he caught him with that one and it’s reopened up that cut the side of Nate’s head yeah Edwards managing risk exceedingly well Landing a lot of of big shots 52% of his significant strike attempts have landed nice job by Nate to roll out of way of that left hand it’s like it’s weird but all that stuff that he does when he’s clowning that’s when he’s most effective cuz it does kind of throw off the r yeah [Applause] all right 20 minutes in the can here’s a big body kick by Leon Edwards all Shin there there’s a right hand and then a left and here’s a big elbow from the clinch look at this boom right to that cut on the side of the head the leg kicks are beautiful disa the leg kicks are beautiful he’s going to come out and throw he’s going to go hell for Li on the last round so let’s stay safe let’s keep that line work going because you’re getting the little bit flat footed now and need that movement the Fain from the hips and the hands finish the combos Henry keep your arm yeah that’s stra you got it got it all right so we’ll see if Nate Diaz can rally and a shout out to Leon edwards’s team Renegade and Birmingham head coach Dave level in the corner these coaches don’t get nearly enough credit for turning Leon Edwards into this world class potentially future Champion final five minutes ooh one two yeah he knew he was going to come out at corner warn them and now he’s going to let him know right away hey you come in here you’re getting hit that’s really really good work there from Leon to stand his ground right off the bat in this fifth round when you know Nate’s got to come out with a sense of [Applause] [Music] [Applause] urgency significant strikes landed 63 to 45 for Edwards and Edward to sto Landing as many leg kicks towards the end of this fight yeah Corner was calling for it just one in this round thus [Applause] far oh strong left hand he really dug in on that one [Applause] [Music] Edwards continuing to acrew a lot of valuable five round experience yeah he’s got Nate switching to Orthodox now too I mean we’re looking at that left the right leg excuse me it’s right in front of us and it’s destroyed it’s right there for Edwards too it’s there all day if he wants to land it right now yeah Nate is so heavy on that front leg look at that but I think Edwards is head hunting yeah I think he wants to put him down good luck well the only guy that’s been able to really stop him inside the Octagon other than Cuts is Josh Thompson Josh was in his crime that left hand from Diaz got edwards’s attention did it really did oh he Hur him here we go I mean Nate can turn it up here in the fifth he’s definitely got the cardio to do it he’s he’s got his leg his hands are locked NOP good job from [Applause] Edwards so Kamar Usman of course does not have a sign bout agreement right now will it be a rematch with Colby Covington a rematch with Leon Edwards potentially lot of possibilities at welterweight Joe you mentioned earlier Gilbert Burns and see the Wonder Boy Thompson with a huge date this summer that’s a big fight but it’s going to take a lot to bring Gilbert back to title contention after kamaro pieced him up Wonder Boy is the fresh guy who hasn’t had that Usman opportunity [Applause] [Music] yeah but this is a big showing for Leon Edwards really is is is showing all the things that we’ve said about him over the years just such a joy to watch a fight but Nate fact yeah Diaz has had a couple of significant moments here in round five oh boy oh boy quick handed Leon Edwards lands three times there look at [Applause] Nate looking like a horror movie just wandering towards him after eating his best shots that’s amazing yeah those guys are made out of different things maybe you’re right maybe it is all the triathlons He Man Manan it makes you a hard person that’s for sure and just he’s got the tank you know what I mean that’s what they do for fun so when you do that for fun as well as Jiu-Jitsu and boxing he legs with a minute to go one minute got to go oh my goodness you got to be kidding me my goodness he got him hurt Leon’s in real trouble Diaz has Leon Edwards on the ropes 42 seconds to go again this is crazy his legs are still a little wobbly but he’s trying to recover oh oh Diaz trying to land that one seminal blow and potentially turn in an upset for the ages Diaz has crazy cardio allows him to really turn on the gas in this fifth round oh there’s left hand from final seconds of this five round Affairs wow what a fight crazy wow tremendous so a late scare of epic proportions for Leon Edwards well we said he was a horror movie my goodness wow who saw that coming other than Nate Diaz oh my goodness there are a lot of people smiling in this Arena right now UFC president Dana White among them all right we’re going to take a look at the end of the fight as a straight left hand that Nate Diaz lands and Wobbles him all over the place look at this slap boom left hand unbelievable the way that that ended right there he had him all sorts of hurt the legs were gone for Leon Edwards after Leon had dominated for most of this fight he gets caught with a big left hand but this is earlier these leg kicks were on point for Leon Edwards throughout the course of this fight I mean let’s not take away from what really happened that was a crazy fifth round but the majority of this fight was owned by Leon Edwards slicing him open had takedowns scored leg kicks boxing on point body kicks but Nathan Diaz as usual delivers where he’s never ever ever out of a fight and almost came through there in the fifth round and if you thought that Nate Diaz had the World by the you know what man unbelievable but Leon Edwards world class as usual Nate Diaz unable to put him away came damn close to doing so it looks as though the scorecards are in the official decision they will Corral the athletes here is Bruce Buffer ladies and gentlemen after five rounds we go to the judges score cards for decision the judges score the contest on all cards 4946 for the winner by unanimous decision Leon Rocky [Music] [Applause] w