UFC San Antonio: Leon Edwards Outscores Rafael dos Anjos

Leon Edwards’ rise up the welterweight ranks continued tonight at UFC Sacramento, as the British fighter outscored former lightweight champ, Rafael dos Anjos.

Edwards came with a quick combo early on and then, clinched up and took RDA down. RDA started looking for a sweep but Edwards defended well. The latter landed a few punches from above and dos Anjos also scored with a few elbows. RDA eventually worked his way up and out, and fired off a calf kick. RDA continued to throw low kicks and Edwards once again, clinched up before the opening frame ended.

Both welterweights came with some hard strikes to begin round two, and Edwards clinched up yet again. RDA broke free and planted another calf kick, but Edwards countered with an elbow. RDA changed levels and pushed Edwards to the fence, and moments later, the latter scored with another elbow that cut dos Anjos. RDA scored with another calf kick that sent Edwards stumbling to the floor. RDA worked from the top for a bit but Edwards got back to his feet. Moments later, Edwards scored with a couple of stinging punches and RDA’s face was bloodied considerably. In between rounds, the cameras showed that the cut above RDA’s right eye is massive.

RDA scored with a stiff jab early into round three and then he planted another calf kick. Edwards fired off a couple of different takes and RDA shot in. Edwards defended, however, and planted a couple of punches. RDA continued to move forward but ate a couple of counters for his efforts. Another TD attempt from RDA was squashed. Edwards cracked RDA with a hard uppercut and proceeded to defend another TD attempt from the former lightweight champ. Before the round ended, RDA scored with another calf kick.

Both welterweights maintained a steady volume of strikes to begin round four. RDA continued to press forward and Edwards largely looked to counter. Edwards stepped up his attacks mid-round but RDA landed a hard right. Later in the round, RDA missed with a flying knee and wound up on his back. RDA rolled up and out nicely.

RDA continued to move forward and clinched up about a minute in. Edwards reversed the position, however, and the fight resumed in the center of the cage. In the ensuing exchanges, neither fighter was able to land any telling strikes, and another clinch battle ensued. RDA cracked Edwards with a nice uppercut moments later and Edwards missed with another elbow. RDA started to pressure extremely hard with a minute left, but Edwards countered nicely with more clinch work. Dos Anjos tried for a flying knee with seconds left but failed to land.

After the bout, Edwards received the unanimous decision win as expected. Here are the complete results for UFC San Antonio.

Leon Edwards def. Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision (50-45, 49-46, 49-46)
Walt Harris def. Aleksei Oleinik via KO (punch) R1, 0:12
Greg Hardy def. Juan Adams via TKO (punches) R1, 0:25
Dan Hooker def. James Vick via KO (punches) R1, 2:33
Alexander Hernandez def. Francisco Trinaldo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Andrei Arlovski def. Ben Rothwell via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Alex Caceres def. Steven Peterson via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Raquel Pennington def. Irene Aldana via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Jennifer Maia def. Roxanne Modafferi via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Klidson Abreu def. Sam Alvey unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Ray Borg def. Gabriel Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Mario Bautista def. Jin Soo Son via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
Felipe Colares def. Domingo Pilarte via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)