Henry Cejudo thinks Leon Edwards would struggle with Islam Makhachev’s wrestling.
Lightweight champion Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is eyeing a move up to challenge welterweight champion Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC), who’s fresh off a title defense against Colby Covington this past Saturday at UFC 296.
Edwards was in cruise control for the majority of the fight until he was held down in Round 5. Considering Makhachev’s grappling prowess, Cejudo doesn’t think it would bode well for Edwards if they fought.
“Islam Makhachev is a different wrestler,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “He’s very disciplined. His actions speak louder than his words. … Colby Covington started to bring out the wrestling too late. But the simple fact is, the attempts he did have and he actually went for broke and actually went to take him down, he easily got the takedowns.”
While Makhachev is calling out Edwards, Edwards is targeting the 185-pound title. Cejudo sees Edwards opting to fight the winner of middleweight champion Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 over Makhachev.
“This is where I feel like a guy like Islam is going to expose him because he does fight everybody the same,” Cejudo said. “We saw it with guys like Israel Adesanya. We saw it with guys that are just pretty much one-dimensional.
“The guys who are the hardest guys to fight are the guys that have weapons other than just striking. He’s got everything to lose. He’s already talking about going up and fighting Sean Strickland. These guys are probably avoiding a guy like Islam Makhachev.”
Covington implemented his wrestling against Edwards towards the end of their fight, but Cejudo sees Makhachev having much more success.
“I’m going to have to give (the edge) to the one and only, the Dagestani nightmare, Islam Makhachev,” Cejudo said. “I just feel like he’s too strong, he’s going to feel too good and stylistically, what I thought Colby was going to do, this dude can do it better.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
