UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards defended his 170-pound strap with a commanding performance against three-time title challenger Colby Covington atop the UFC 296 pay-per-view (PPV) event last weekend in Las Vegas.
In the process, “Rocky” got revenge for these pre-fight comments and silenced critics who may have attributed his Kamaru Usman victories to the decline of “The Nigerian Nightmare.” But one critic who will remain vocal is UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.
It appears Rogan was not the biggest fan of the champion’s gameplan.
“What was interesting is that he made choices tonight that were not the best choices to win the fight, but almost like to prove a point,” Rogan said. “Like, he chose to engage Colby in grappling in moments where he did not have to, where he could have defended and got back up to his feet. I think that would be a better path to victory, where he could have completely dominated the fight, absolutely dominated it.”
Judging by the scorecards (49-46 x3), he dominated the fight anyway. In addition, UFC CEO Dana White said Edwards defeated Covington “in the most dominant possible way” during the UFC 296 post-fight press conference (watch the replay here).
“(Edwards) found himself on the bottom at the end of the fight getting punched by Colby, which really didn’t have to happen,” Rogan continued. “That’s not the way you wanna see a guy who’s as good as Leon Edwards fight. You don’t want to seem him make ego-based decisions when you don’t have to, especially when he’s so superior standing up.”
Fans in the YouTube chat have been lambasting Rogan for his comments.
Joe was sooo negative because his co-Trumper didn’t win! He only mentioned the last 30 seconds of round 5 rather than the other 24.30 minutes.
Rogan’s criticism is kinda weird and he was a wet blanket commentating that fifth round. Leon dominated the match from start to finish and it’s weird to try so hard to find something to criticize.
Imagine the only faults you have for a fighter is that he switched and fought fire with fire.
Leon does it and “it’s not a good decision.” (Charles) Oliveira did it in each and every one of his defenses and was praised for bringing the fight always as if he was the underdog.
Joe def wanted to see Colby win. Hated on Leon as if he lost when he dominated the fight lol he was visually pissed.
Joe is being rather critical. Leon dominated in every way. Tried to finish him in the fifth which is what joe and “DC” were telling him to do and he ends up on the bottom. They weren’t this critical towards similar fights like Vettori vs. Izzy or Santos vs. Jones. It just shows how Leon is still disrespected in America media due to him not being a big personality.
Somewhere in the distance, a rusty trombone wails.
Edwards is expected to return at some point in first or second quarter of 2024, likely to defend his welterweight title against Belal Muhammad, or perhaps the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, depending on how quickly “Rocky” makes his way back to the cage.
Stay tuned.
For complete UFC 296 results and live play-by-play updates click here. To check out the latest and greatest UFC 296 news, reactions, highlights, and more, be sure to hit up our “Edwards vs. Covington” comprehensive event archive right here.
This story originally appeared on MMA Mania
