Results | UFC 286: Edwards vs Usman 3

• Veronica Hardy defeats Juliana Miller by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
• Jai Herbert and Ludovit Klein fight to a majority draw (29-27, 28-28, 28-28)
• Joanne Wood defeats Luana Carolina by split decision (28-29, 30-27, 29-28)
• Jake Hadley defeats Malcolm Gordon by TKO (strikes) at 1:01 of Round 1
• Christian Leroy Duncan defeats Dusko Todorovic by TKO (injury) at 1:52 of Round 1
• Lerone Murphy defeats Gabriel Santos by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
• Muhammad Mokaev defeats Jafel Filho by submission at 4:32 of Round 3
• Yanal Ashmouz defeats Sam Patterson by KO (strikes) at 1:15 of Round 1
• Chris Duncan defeats Omar Morales by split decision (27-30, 29-28, 29-28)
• Jack Shore defeats Makwan Amirkhani by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:27 of Round 2
• Marvin Vettori defeats Roman Dolidze by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
• Jennifer Maia defeats Casey O’Neill by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
• Gunnar Nelson defeats Bryan Barberena by submission (armbar) at 4:51 of Round 1
• Co-Main Event: Justin Gaethje defeats Rafael Fiziev by majority decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-28)
• Main Event: Leon Edwards defeats Kamaru Usman by majority decision (48-46, 48-46, 47-47)

Hardy had a clear experience advantage and relied on it throughout the fight, punishing Miller on the feet and taxing her opponent every time she looked to get the fight to the canvas and chase submissions. Her pace remained quick throughout, and she landed her best shot of the fight late in the contest, blasting Miller with a high kick with just over a minute remaining in the contest.

This was an excellent effort from Hardy, who is still just 27 years old and looks to be settled into competing in the flyweight ranks. With the win, she moves to 2-4 inside the Octagon and 7-4-1 overall, while Miller falls to 4-2 with the loss.| Official Scorecards 

Wood was the more technical of the two throughout, doing good work in the clinch and on the breaks, creating a massive mouse under the right eye of Carolina over the course of the contest, but “Dread” certainly had positive moments of her own. Her left hand was sharp over the final two rounds and caused Wood trouble, but the former Ultimate Fighter contestant was able to respond in kind and crank up the impact of her offence down the stretch.

For the third consecutive fight, the judges were called upon to decide the outcome, and when their scores were tabulated, Wood took home the split decision victory, spanning a three-fight slide in the process.| Official Scorecards 

The British Contender Series graduate stung Gordon with a body shot right out of the chute and continued to go back to that well in the clinch. A pair of digging left hands caused Gordon to crumble to the canvas, sending Hadley into celebration mode and the fans in attendance into hysterics.

After dropping his debut, Hadley has now collected back-to-back stoppage wins to establish himself as an ascending name to watch in the flyweight division.| Official Scorecards 

Duncan looked good on the feet in the initial exchanges, switching stances well. As they two clinched and circled off the fence, Todorovic’s knee buckled and he crumpled to the canvas, bringing the fight to an immediate halt.

It’s an anticlimactic finish to what was a highly anticipated contest, but it’s a win nonetheless for “CLD,” who moves to 8-0 with the victory and remains someone to keep tabs on in the middleweight division going forward.| Official Scorecards 

From the jump, the pair got after it, no quarter asked and none given, with each man responding almost immediately when the other would land. Murphy seemed to land the higher impact blows on the feet, but Santos did well whenever the fight hit the canvas, threatening with submissions in each of the first two rounds. In the third, Murphy pulled away on the feet, his gas tank holding up better than his late-notice replacement.

The judges were called upon again to determine the victor, and two of the three judges felt that Murphy had done more. With the win, “The Miracle” extends his winning streak to four and his unbeaten streak to a baker’s dozen, while Santos suffers the first loss of his career, but sees his stock rise after a strong short-notice effort here.| Official Scorecards 

Mokaev successfully put Filho on the canvas in all three rounds, controlling him on the deck for solid stretches. But the biggest moment of the fight came midway through the final stanza, when Filho attacked kneebar and appeared to have Mokaev dead to rights. Despite his knee being bent at a gruesome angle, the 22-year-old refused to tap, scrambled back to his feet, secured the takedown, and found the finish.

This was a resilient performance in a high-risk fight for the talented emerging star, who moves to 4-0 inside the Octagon and 10-0 with one No Contest overall with the victory.| Official Scorecards 

“The Red Fox” planted a left hook on Sam Patterson’s temple that sent the towering Englishman to the Shadow Realm as he fell to the canvas, and from there, Ashmouz chased him to the canvas and pounded out the finish.

This was an absolutely blistering debut effort from the undefeated Israeli lightweight, who moved to 7-0 with the knockout win. Just an outstanding performance! | Official Scorecards 

The second half of the opening stanza became a bit of a slugfest, with each man tagging the other and enjoying the back-and-forth exchanges. Over the final two rounds, Morales had more success in space, battering Duncan’s lead leg, while the Scottish lightweight looked to wrestle, neutralizing his Venezuelan foe along the fence for extended stretches.

It was a close, quality battle between two solid lightweights, and when the scores were added up, Duncan came out ahead, securing a victory in his promotional debut to move to 10-1 overall. After winning his first two UFC appearances, Morales has now suffered three straight losses, falling to 11-4 with Saturday’s setback.| Official Scorecards 

Amirkhani needed a single takedown to control things in the first, putting the former bantamweight prospect on the deck and keeping him there for the duration. In the second, Shore came out more aggressive on the feet in the second, stinging “Mr. Finland” with clean shots and high kick offerings before putting him on the canvas and climbing into mount. After looking at an arm-triangle choke, Shore switched off to a rear-naked choke when Amirkhani gave up his back, and quickly secured the finish.

After spending the whole of his UFC career at bantamweight prior to Saturday night,  Shore looked sharp in his first appearance at featherweight. He was bounced from the ranks of the unbeaten last time out, but got right back into the win column here, moving to 17-1 as a pro with the victory. | Official Scorecards 

Both men were amped up to start the fight, with the opening five minutes featuring high volume from Vettori, who added a higher kicking output to his arsenal since his last fight, and more power shots from Dolidze. In the second and third, “The Italian Dream” banked on his output and movement, remaining technical while Dolidze looked to score with high-impact blows at a much lower clip.

It all came down to how the judges saw things, with Vettori landing a far greater total volume, but Dolidze arguably scoring with the bigger singular shots. When the scorecards were collected and added up, the officials were unanimous in seeing the fight for Vettori, who gets back into the win column and solidifies his place in the middleweight Top 5. | Official Scorecards 

The Brazilian came out moving well and landing at a greater clip, stinging O’Neill with clean right hands as she came forward before using her movement to keep her range and force O’Neill to follow. While the Scottish-Australian prospect had positive moments of her own and showed her tenacity by constantly pressing forward into the fray, she just wasn’t able to mount enough sustained offence to get Maia off her game and out of her rhythm.

Maia has now earned consecutive victories over younger fighters looking to climb beyond her in the rankings, cementing her position as a Top 10 fixture in the process. O’Neill suffered the first loss of her pro career with the defeat, but showed she’s still one of the brightest young talents on the roster in the process. | Official Scorecards 

Barberena chopped at the lead leg early in the contest, but the Icelandic veteran continued to march forward, eventually closing the distance, elevating his opponent, and dumping him to the canvas. From there, Nelson systematically worked to mount, mashing home elbows and teasing different submission looks, all designed to create the opening for the armbar.

This was a tremendous performance for the popular welterweight, who collected a second straight win in London and reminded everyone of his expertise on the ground in the process. | Official Scorecards 

Fiziev was the quicker of the two from the outset, taking the fight to Gaethje and having a good deal of success in the first before the American contender battled back in the second, leaving Fiziev bruised and bleeding heading into the third. Early in the final round, Fiziev blasted Gaethje with a clean right hand that would send everyone else in the division to the Shadow Realm, but “The Highlight” somehow remained upright, responded, and then rallied, putting it on the emerging contender in the second half of the round.

They fought tooth and nail to the final bell, leaving the responsibility to determine a winner in the hands of the judges, with Gaethje emerging with a hard-fought majority decision victory.

This was an outstanding fight between two elite lightweights, with Gaethje showing he’s still got plenty left in the tank. | Official Scorecards 

For all five rounds, the welterweight rivals ran close to level, with each man having moments where they landed good shots: Edwards chopping with loads of kicks, Usman pressuring constantly, working behind his hands, and neither really grabbing a clear advantage. They battled each other every step of the way, right to the final horn, leaving the outcome in the hands of the judges.

A third-round point deduction against Edwards for grabbing the fence to deny a takedown attempt loomed large, hovering as a pivotal moment in an ultra-competitive, freakishly close fight between two fighters with a ton of history between them. 

When the scores were added up, Edwards emerged with a majority decision victory, retaining his title in an absolute classic against an all-time great that brought greatness out of him in the biggest moment of his career. | Official Scorecards