Sherdog’s Top 10: Greatest Welterweights

10. Leon Edwards

It's shocking to me that the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s current welterweight king ended up a mere 10th on this list. I had him at fourth and thought that might have even been a bit modest. While I make no secret that I'm a big fan of Edwards, he has rewarded my belief, as I picked him to upset the seemingly unbeatable titan Kamaru Usman, and he did exactly that. Edwards is a ridiculously skilled, refined fighter with a smooth, textbook-perfect kickboxing style that reminds me of an MMA version of the boxing legend Pernell Whitaker, a comparison helped by both men being southpaws. Being a highly diligent martial artist with an amazing natural ability to master techniques, Edwards also developed into a very good wrestler and BJJ practitioner over the years, with especially punishing ground-and-pound. Add to this endless cardio and one of the most brilliant minds in MMA, and it's little surprise that since he dropped a close decision to that same Usman in 2015 as a mere 23-year-old, Edwards hasn't lost since, winning 10 times, including a submission of Albert Tumenov and clear decisions over Vicente Luque, Bryan Barbarena, Donald Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, and Nate Diaz. It was an impressive string of victories, but of course, the crown jewel was knocking out Usman for the title. Some will call this a “fluke,” as Usman was winning the contest on the cards and merely had to survive for another minute to retain. However, consider that Edwards had clearly won the first round, and if not for referee Herb Dean allowing Usman to get away with endlessly grabbing the cage and holding on to Edwards' gloves in Round 3, the fight may well have been tied 2-2 going into the final stanza. That's a close fight, poor refereeing aside, and with Edwards having just turned 31 and only getting better, the trilogy fight between Edwards and Usman may well go the way of the Brit again. In either scenario, I expect Edwards to continue climbing this list in the years to come.

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