Jump to…
Standing there with Dan Miragliotta and Kamaru Usman, the UK’s Leon Edwards stood there in shock that he’d been bested. Leaned in and controlled for the majority of the 15 minute fight, Edwards was rendered helpless and couldn’t do anything to change what happened. It was at that moment that “Rocky” decided to change what he knew and become the best anti-wrestler he could be. Kamaru Usman would become champion one day and Edwards would have to beat him. It’s better to start working on the tools now and be ready when that moment arrives.
And that moment would arrive. Edwards would go through fight after fight denying takedowns and working to get up when taken down. Today we are going to take a look at the anti-wrestling of Leon Edwards and how he used it to beat Kamaru Usman.
The cage wrestling threat
To understand the anti-wrestling of Leon Edwards, we must first understand what type of wrestling he’d prepared himself for. Kamaru Usman doesn’t shoot in the middle of the cage, instead he grinds his opponents out and eventually drops levels to get the takedown.
When Kamaru Usman gets his man backed to the fence, (1) his hips go square to shoot the takedown. (2) To get some free damage to an opponent that is terrified of the shot, Usman throws a cross and (3) an elbow to soften the opponent up. He will either shoot the shot or (4) the opponent clinches up to stifle the offense. That is when (5) Usman changes levels to get to the hips and to the ground.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Throughout his run to and with the title, Kamaru Usman does this with the exception of Colby Covington. He leaned against the fence of Jorge Masvidal, Tyron Woodley, Rafael Dos Anjos and more.
Leon Edwards had to deal with this and worked out several ways to do so. He left no stone unturned and created an entire system of anti-wrestling weapons that helped him capture (and keep) the title.
The first thing he wanted to address is the changing of levels in the double leg takedown.
Line of Defense 1: Interception and evasion
The first step in Leon Edwards’ anti-wrestling approach is to intercept or evade an advancing opponent looking to clinch. He’s fought names like Rafael Dos Anjos, Kamaru Usman and Gunnar Nelson, all of whom looked to pressure him to the fence. Some had success with takedowns, others did not.
Edwards knows his longest weapon is the push kick and he also knows that intercepting and delaying an opponent in their advance gives him time to escape, threatens a crucial blow to the middle, and meets the problem head on. If an opponent, such as Donald Cerrone or Nelson, aren’t the catch-the-kick types, Leon Edwards will use the push kick, or teep, to discourage his opponent stepping in. If they’re met with a heel to the stomach every time they want to clinch, the cardio capacity will wane and the opposition will be less inclined to want to even meet. “How can I even get in?” is the mindset of a fighter who is punished in this way.
If an opponent gets the jump on Edwards, evading the push kick or perhaps getting inside it’s range before Edwards can throw it, Edwards will then operate with knees.
We turn to the Usman trilogy fight in our next diagram. (1) Kamaru Usman is pressuring Edwards to the fence and (2) Edwards will begin to circle out and grabs the clinch to better control Usman. As he exits, (3) Edwards throws the left knee which was set up by the step out to his left. This works so well because of the nature of Usman’s shot and the clinch work. Usman needs to change levels to get to the hips and Edwards grabbing the clinch makes him look down instinctively. This is a perfect storm for knees in the clinch and Edwards uses them effectively.
These techniques are well used by Leon Edwards but it’s not striking on his terms. They are reactionary. Instead, the Birmingham native would like to avoid and strike when he deems it the time to. Controlling the pace of a fight is important for any fight gameplan. Edwards is the master of this.
The art of evasion seems basic but is easier said than done. Edwards gives us the basic blueprint. (1) In the event of an oncoming opponent, (2) Edwards shows the escape and circles out to his right. Usman reads this and thinks he has a 1-2 combination lined up. (3) Edwards then (3) darts to his left and throws a left hook for cover.
Caught in the clinch
With the types of pressure fighters in the welterweight division at the time of this writing, it is inevitable that Leon Edwards gets caught in the clinch. It’s important that he knows how to work from there as well.
Like coming in to clinch, Edwards likes to dissuade his cage mates from even clinching with knees and elbows that make life miserable.
Caught in a clinch with Gunnar Nelson, Edwards makes sure to (1) not get caught chest to chest with Nelson. He keeps his hips back and hand across into the crotch of Nelson while posting off the bicep of his left arm. This keeps Nelson from moving his hips in and regriping or striking with his left hand. The hips of Edwards also (2) allows for a long knee up the middle to the gut. This is a callback to the push kick from our first section. Edwards loves going to the body as it’s been an effective too for him for a long time. To break from the clinch, Edwards gives Nelson a reason to break the clinch as well by (3) throwing an elbow over the top with his left hand after the knee comes down.
These strikes from the clinch give Edwards more weapons when he’s being controlled either by the wrist or body.
Rafael Dos Anjos hunted the wrist down of Edwards during their fight in 2019. (1) Dos Anjos has the left hand of Edwards controlled to prevent the elbow. The half-collar tie of each fighter allows both to keep hip separation in the event that the other wants a sweep. Dos Anjos isn’t as comfortable in the clinch in the open and prefers to work against the cage. Dos Anjos (2) steps back and Edwards lags behind a step to create the space he needs to (3) rip his hand from Dos Anjos’ grip. He (4) pivots out to his left now that the hand is free and Dos Anjos realizes that he’s either lost position or a knee is coming. This calls for (5) a mutual break from the clinch.
Edwards isn’t opposed to offensive wrestling either. He often will seek out a takedown to secure control time despite the acumen of who he’s fighting.
Before he fought Edwards, Usman had never been officially taken down. Edwards changed that in the first fight. (1) After establishing head position, (2) Edwards locked down the body with an over-under. (3) He reaped his left leg along the outside of Usman’s and (4) completed the takedown.
Notice the hip position. Once Edwards found his head position, he went chest to chest with the superior grip. This is in contrast with what we saw in our previous examples.
In the event of a takedown…
In the event of a takedown, Leon Edwards’ number one thought process is to refuse to accept the position. We see signals of this through his cage wrestling as well. When Edwards gets taken down he does everything he can to sweep his opponents from his back or side.
Kamaru Usman gets to the hips. Kamaru Usman always gets to the hips. (1) As Usman changed levels, Edwards tries to pull Usman up with his left arm under and his right between his hips and Usman. (2) As Usman gets the lift, Edwards knows to keep his hand posted up, which he does. To go to his butt would be a death sentence. (3) Usman pursues the takedown further and Edwards reaches across with his right arm to scoop up and control Usman’s arm while leaned against the fence and staying posted on his knee. He eventually gets up (4) and resumes hand fighting.
The wall walk has evolved out of the MMA meta with the arrival of the Dagestani’s. Recently, fighters like Alexander Volkanovski have even turned their back and drive into the fence. This allows them to have their weight forward where the opponent cannot take them down as they have an opportunity to fight the hands. Volkanovski had much success against Islam Makhachev in the two’s first fight and Edwards did so against Usman in the second and third fights.
When Edwards gets taken down, he works to make keeping position hard for the top pressure fighter. (1) Nelson managed to get Edwards down in the center of the cage and Leon Edwards managed to get a butterfly hook in. With that hook, he (2) elevated Nelson by hinging his right leg and (3) sneaking the left foot onto the hips. When he (4) gets his two feet on the hips, he leg presses Nelson away and (5) creates space to scramble up.
We’ve covered the butterfly sweep, and specifically the reverse butterfly sweep that could be something Edwards could add to the arsenal.
When Usman did get Edwards down, Edwards found himself controlled. The plan then became to create space and minimize damage.
Edwards utlized the knee shield as seen above and used his hips to shrimp out. Usman was forced to grab the waist of Edwards to stop him from getting to half then full guard or scrambling up, as seen with his left arm. Edwards framed off Usman’s left bicep to stop any ground and pound. If Kamaru Usman wants to strike, it’s much easier to let go of the hip with his right hand and let go. But this would allow Edwards to continue to get a hook in, continue to shrimp out, and make Usman’s takedown all for nothing.
It’s the common theme for Leon Edwards to not accept position and get back to his feet where he’s most comfortable.
Putting it together
Get a load of this sequence from Leon Edwards in the trilogy fight against Kamaru Usman. He combines interception, misdirection, and clinch fighting to get the best of the pressuring “Nigerian Nightmare.”
At this point in the fight, Edwards was well on his way to a victory. He was the fresher fighter and more of his attacks were working. But let’s break it down a bit more and see just what Edwards managed to do.
As usual, (1) Kamaru Usman is pressuring Leon Edwards. (2) He throws a jab to get in on Edwards and Edwards parries it out the way. Edwards will meet Usman with (3) a jab of his own. (4) Usman then comes behind with a 1-2 and Edwards gets behind his shoulder and blocks with his elbow and rolls with the right cross.
This is very much in the realm of shoulder roll territory, much like Floyd Mayweather made famous. Edwards doesn’t utilize it as much but he does break it out from time to time. This allows Edwards to stay in the pocket when the heavy-handed wrestlers who like to overcommit on the feet and score some free blows like we are about to see. Continuing on, (6) Edwards lands an uppercut from the left, his power hand, which was queued up with the shoulder roll to his left. (7) Edwards then grabs the clinch where Usman feels more comfortable. Except he won’t be. A knee to the mid section will be his second consecutive attack to the body of an already tired opponent then, (8) an elbow up top off the break.
That sequence is perhaps the best seven seconds of Leon Edwards as a fighter. It shows what he’s truly capable of. He’s not an action fighter by any stretch of the imagination and can put on some snooze worthy fights. But when he’s on, he’s brilliant.
As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to be less specialized and more homogeneous, expect to see a lot of what Leon Edwards does in the clinch, against wrestlers, and on the ground more. He’s served as a great example that wrestlers do not always rule the cage and with proper preparation, can be dealt with. It’s not easy, but nothing in fighting ever is.
