December 22, 2023 10:00 am ET
Henry Cejudo believes Leon Edwards would fight with Islam Makhachev’s fumbling.
Light-weight champ Makhachev (25-1 MMA, 14-1 UFC) is considering a go up to challenge welterweight champ Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC), who’s fresh off a title defense versus Colby Covington this previous Saturday at UFC 296.
Edwards remained in cruise control for most of the battle till he was held down in Round 5. Thinking about Makhachev’s grappling expertise, Cejudo does not believe it would bode well for Edwards if they battled.
“Islam Makhachev is a various wrestler,” Cejudo stated on his YouTube channel. “He’s really disciplined. His actions speak louder than his words. … Colby Covington began to highlight the fumbling too late. The easy truth is, the efforts he did have and he really went for broke and in fact went to take him down, he quickly got the takedowns.”
While Makhachev is calling out Edwards, Edwards is targeting the 185-pound title. Cejudo sees Edwards choosing to combat the winner of middleweight champ Sean Strickland and Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 297 over Makhachev.
“This is where I seem like a guy like Islam is going to expose him since he does battle everyone the exact same,” Cejudo stated. “We saw it with guys like Israel Adesanya. We saw it with guys that are simply basically one-dimensional.
“The guys who are the hardest guys to eliminate are the guys that have weapons besides simply striking. He’s got whatever to lose. He’s currently speaking about increasing and battling Sean Strickland. These guys are most likely preventing a guy like Islam Makhachev.”
Covington executed his fumbling versus Edwards towards completion of their battle, however Cejudo sees Makhachev having far more success.
“I’m going to need to provide (the edge) to the one and just, the Dagestani problem, Islam Makhachev,” Cejudo stated. “I simply seem like he’s too strong, he’s going to feel too great and stylistically, what I believed Colby was going to do, this guy can do it much better.”
For more on the card, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion center for UFC 296.
Make sure to go to the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of combined martial arts.
