Edwards bloodied up and thoroughly dominated Diaz on Saturday night in Glendale, Arizona — for 24 of the fight’s 25 minutes, anyway — on his way to a lopsided unanimous decision in a bout that largely overshadowed UFC 263’s two title fights.
Like those bouts, Edwards-Diaz was scheduled for five rounds, the first nontitle, non-main event in UFC history to get that treatment.
Brandon Moreno • Leon Edwards vs.
Edwards wobbled, then retreated, and when Diaz came in pursuit, all Edwards could do was grab and clinch and hold on until the horn.
UFC president Dana White has said Colby Covington is next for the champ, but this performance on a big stage might change the boss’ mind.
Diaz, who is 36 and from Stockton, California, is possibly the most beloved fighter in MMA, a reputation cemented in big moments.
“I had a hard time getting going all day today, all month long,” Diaz said.
And while Muhammad could never really string together long combinations on the feet or any hugely damaging blows, he did enough there to earn the win.
Muhammad started getting more in the groove with his boxing in the second and third rounds as Maia tired from his failed takedown attempts.
The Chicago native bounced back from a no contest finish against Leon Edwards in March, a bout that ended in the second round when Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye.
Even though Hill was standing over Craig’s guard, he couldn’t pull his right arm free, and was in constant trouble in the position.
Craig continued to control him in a triangle attempt and rained down elbows from his back.
There was some bad blood between Craig and Hill, from Michigan, going into the fight.
His job appeared to be in jeopardy just two years ago, when he struggled through a 2-4 skid, but he has since turned the corner.
They each landed several big shots, often trading them in a rock-’em-sock-’em back and forth.
He rocked Dober with a minute to go in the final round, and that may have sewed up the decision for the 29-year-old New Zealander, a training partner of middleweight champ Israel Adesanya, who fights in the main event.
Anders bested Stewart via unanimous decision in a rematch from a March fight that ended in a no contest.
On March 13, Anders dominated Stewart on the feet until he landed an illegal knee with Stewart’s knee down.
The former University of Alabama football player has rebounded after a three-fight losing streak in 2018 and 2019.
After a close first round, Murphy, of Houston, dominated Calderwood on the floor in the second and pulled off two 29-28 scores.
Calderwood, who fights out of Las Vegas, had some success on the feet with elbows and leg kicks, but Murphy responded with heavy right hands of her own.
When he came out for Round 2, Evloev took Dawodu to the mat again within 15 seconds, controlling the middle round with more grappling.
In the final round, though, after fending off a couple of takedown tries, Dawodu landed a left hand that wobbled his opponent with a minute to go.
He got to hear the judges’ scorecards: three scores of 29-27, giving him his fifth UFC victory.
Kianzad outboxed Davis en route to a unanimous decision victory, one of the best of her career thus far.
Davis had her best round in the third, but Kianzad was able to finish the fight with a right hand and then a left that wobbled Davis.
The Iranian-born fighter is unranked by ESPN in the women’s bantamweight division, but that could very well change after this victory.
The smoothest path to victory for Peterson would have been to keep the fight standing, since his opponent was a highly skilled grappler with a limited striking game.
Peterson, a 31-year-old from Dallas, did some strong work on the feet but did most of his best work on the canvas, fending off a nonstop flow of Hooper’s submission attempts.
And at the start of Round 3, Peterson feigned a glove touch but instead fired a big overhand right.
Vendramini turned it on in the third, landing big combinations on the feet, sending Ziam to the canvas and working for a submission from there.
It wasn’t the amount of dominance that led to a 10-8 from all three judges, though, which would have made it a draw.
Ziam, 24, has won two straight after dropping his UFC debut in September 2019.
In a heavyweight fight that never hit the floor, it was Felipe’s superior boxing and head movement that stood out.
A former middleweight, Collier, of Missouri, landed some good shots early on, and caused Felipe’s right eye to swell badly with punches.