Leon Edwards produced one of the greatest comebacks in UFC history by knocking out Kamaru Usman earlier this month, but the Brit has been accused of intentionally cheating in the title fight.
Edwards, 31, was losing the majority of his the UFC 278 fight before producing a last-gasp head kick to knockout Usman with less than a minute left. 'Rocky' became the first Jamaican-born and second British champion in UFC history with the win, but he has now been accused of cheating by by grabbing the fence multiple times before he produced the Hail Mary kick.
MMA analyst Chael Sonnen said of the fight: "There’s a lot more in Edwards versus Usman and nobody spoke of it. Leon cheated in that match a whole bunch of times. That is not a headline or a topic that is out there anywhere. I do not want to be the one to bring that to you. I’m not giving Leon a hard time, for the story to be told accurately, nobody’s wanting to touch that.
What do you make of the allegations that Leon Edwards intentionally cheated against Kamaru Usman? Let us know in the comments section below
"Leon was frustrated in positions and had no way out of positions to the extent that he cheated repeatedly, not once, not an accident, not the referee didn't see it. The referee broke the act five or six times, but Kamaru has never called Leon a cheater. Leon changed the position and got out of it three times by cheating."
Edwards was never deducted a point by referee Herb Dean during the fight for his fence grabs. It also wasn't just Edwards who grabbed the fence in the fight, as Usman was also warned by Dean to stop putting his fingers in the cage. Sonnen has questioned whether Edwards' fence grabs allowed him to stay on his feet and potentially stopped Usman from finishing him on the ground before the fight went into the final round.
“You’re in a fifth round that you never should’ve been in, potentially," Sonnen added. "You [Usman] takes a kick in a fight that you were winning, that you were trying to finish. You had the position that you needed to get said finish and the opponent cheated three times. Leon learned a lot in this fight. When Leon goes to prepare for Kamaru again, he’s going to have some confidence. It’s a strong word to say cheated, but what other word do you want to use?”
