Leon Edwards and Nate Diaz face off on Saturday in the main card in a welterweight showdown at the Gila River Arena in Glendale Arizona.This is an historic event as it’s the first non-main event, non-title fight, five-round fight in UFC history.
Leon Edwards comes into this game with an 18-3 record overall and coming into this fight he has won eight of his last nine fights. The big issue for Edwards though, is the one that wasn’t a win was a no-contest in his last fight. Against Belal Muhammed, Edward's eye poked his opponent, and it was called a no-contest. Edwards last loss came back in December of 2015 against Kamaru Usman. Each of the last three games for Edwards were by decision. Edwards is averaging 2.56 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 2.03 significant strikes per minute. Edwards likes at times to get the fight to the ground and is averaging 1.35 takedowns every 15 minutes, but he is successful on only 30 percent of his takedown attempts. Edwards does stop 70 percent of his takedown attempts.
On the other side of this fight is Nate Diaz who is still one of the most popular fighters in the UFC but he has been a little consistent as of late losing two of his last three fights. Diaz’s last fight came against Jorge Masvidal in November of 2019 and he lost that fight by knockout. Diaz is averaging 4.62 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.78 significant strikes per minute. Diaz is also averaging 1.19 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 30 percent of his takedown attempts. Diaz also stops 42 percent of his opponents' takedown attempts.
I don’t love the odds that have to be laid with Edwards in this fight, but I really don’t see any way that Nate Diaz finds success in this one, The biggest obstacle for Edwards might be if the eye pokes start to become an issue in this one. Back Edwards on the money line. This is a perfect play to throw in a couple of parlays.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
