UFC 286 Results And Recap: Hometown Hero Leon Edwards retains welterweight belt in trilogy with Kamaru Usman

Leon Edwards reacts after defeating Kamaru Usman in UFC 286. (Photos by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

London, March 19: Hometown's Leon Edwards retained the UFC Welterweight title following a five-rounder in the headliner of UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 on Saturday (March 18) night.

In the main event, Edwards edged former champion Usman to make his first successful title defence in front of a sold out (17,588) O2 Arena and ($8.57 million), the highest grossing event in the venue history.

The stacked 15-fight card of UFC 286 saw 6 fights end in stoppages as 9 fights went the distance. Among the 6 stoppage wins, three were submissions and three were either KO or TKO.

The co-main event between Gaethje and Fiziev was awarded the fight of the night bonus, while Gunnar Nelson, fighting on the main card, and Jake Hadley, who fought on the early preliminary card, also pocketed an extra USD 50K as performance of the night bonuses.

Here is a look at UFC 286 recap, results and highlights:

Main Event: Edwards makes it 2-1

British UFC welterweight champion Edwards held off the takedowns of No.1 ranked Usman and pressured with damaging leg kicks in their 5-round trilogy bout.

Usman's striking made it competitive, and Edwards was penalized a point for grabbing the fence, making it a close fight to call. In the end, the majority decision kept the belt in the champion's corner.

Following the title defence, Edwards said, "He (Usman) didn't get any takedowns, I landed the cleaner shots, I took out his legs. It's been my hardest fight to this day, and I want to thank him for being a great competitor. Listen to the crowd!"

Co-main Event: Gaethje just does enough

Ranking lightweights No. 3 Gaethje and No. 6 Fiziev delivered the blazing battle that was expected in the matchup between brilliant strikers. Fiziev's kicks and speed paired with Gaethje's jab and damaging punches through three back-and-forth rounds.

In the final round, Fiziev scored near knockdowns, and Gaethje surged back, putting him ahead on the scorecards for a majority decision win.

After the win, Gaethje said, "I had a perfect dance partner. There's no way this fight was not exciting. I'm taking one more run at the title, but I won't be around much longer, so I'm glad you guys got to enjoy this with me."

Other Main Card Action

Gunnar Nelson displayed his grappling prowess and worked patiently to get Bryan Barberena to the canvas before locking an armbar in the final seconds of the opening round to claim a submission win, the only stoppage on the main card.

Also, Jennifer Maia proved to be tough test for Casey O'Neill in London, out-duelling the rising flyweight in a boxing-centric main card battle to earn the decision.

Plus, Marvin Vettori got back in the win column and solidified his place in the middleweight Top 5 with a decision against Roman Dolidze in the main card opener.

Preliminary Card Action

On the preliminary card, Jack Shore made a successful debut in the featherweight division, rallying after dropping the first round to Makwan Amirkhani to secure the second-round submission win.

Also, undefeated Israeli lightweight Yanal Ashmouz, who also made his UFC debut on Saturday (March 18), moved to 7-0 in his career with a first-round knockout win over Sam Patterson.

Another newcomer Chris Duncan edged out roster mainstay Omar Morales in the penultimate preliminary card fight of the evening to earn a split decision.

Plus, Muhammad Mokaev secured his fourth consecutive UFC win with an incredibly gutsy third-round submission win over Jafel Filho in a flyweight bout.

Early Preliminary Card Action

On his promotional debut, former Cage Warriors middleweight champion Christian Leroy Duncan came away with a first-round stoppage win after Dusko Todorovic suffered a knee injury early in the first round.

Jake Hadley made it back-to-back stoppage wins after collecting a first-round TKO over the Canadian veteran Malcolm Gordon, who had struggled to make weight for the bout.

Meanwhile, Lerone Murphy, Joanne Wood and Veronica Hardy earned decision wins in their respective bouts against Gabriel Santons, Luana Carolina and Julianna Miller, while Jai Herbert and Ludovit Klein saw their lightweight bout end in a majority draw.

UFC 286 Results

Main Card

1. Welterweight Championship Bout: Leon Edwards defeats Kamaru Usman by majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47)

2. Lightweight Bout: Justin Gaethje defeats Rafael Fiziev by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)

3. Welterweight Bout: Gunnar Nelson defeats Bryan Barberena by submission (armbar) at 4:51 of Round 1

4. Women's Flyweight Bout: Jennifer Maia defeats Casey O'Neill by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)

5. Middleweight Bout: Marvin Vettori defeats Roman Dolidze by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Preliminary Card

1. Featherweight Bout: Jack Shore defeats Makwan Amirkhani by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:27 of Round 2

2. Lightweight Bout: Chris Duncan defeats Omar Morales by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)

3. Lightweight Bout: Yanal Ashmouz defeats Sam Patterson by KO (strikes) at 1:15 of Round 1

4. Flyweight Bout: Muhammad Mokaev defeats Jafel Filho by submission at 4:32 of Round 3

Early Preliminary Card

1. Featherweight Bout: Lerone Murphy defeats Gabriel Santos by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

2. Middleweight Bout: Christian Leroy Duncan defeats Dusko Todorovic by TKO (injury) at 1:52 of Round 1

3. Flyweight Bout: Jake Hadley defeats Malcolm Gordon by TKO (strikes) at 1:01 of Round 1

4. Women's Flyweight Bout: Joanne Wood defeats Luana Carolina by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)

5. Lightweight Bout: Jai Herbert and Ludovit Klein fight to a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)

6. Women's Flyweight Bout: Veronica Hardy defeats Juliana Miller by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Story first published: Sunday, March 19, 2023, 9:58 [IST]

Other articles published on Mar 19, 2023

Sporting Buzz