Leon Edwards touted to defeat Colby Covington in inevitable UFC title clash: ‘His defense is much improved’
Welterweight prospect Randy Brown is backing Leon Edwards to come out on top in his highly anticipated title clash with division gatekeeper Colby Covington.
Like it or not, UFC President Dana White has dubbed Colby Covington as the next man in line for a 170-pound title opportunity. Despite making the announcement moments after Leon Edwards’ successful UFC 286 title defense against former champion Kamaru Usman, the promotion has not been able to lock down a date or location for the contest.
Edwards has previously suggested a showdown at Etihad Arena when the UFC returns to Abu Dhabi in October, but Covington is seemingly sticking to his guns about the fight taking place on American soil. No matter where it goes down, Edwards vs. Covington is expected to be a highly entertaining edge-of-your-seat scrap, even if the fight itself makes little sense to the masses.
Randy Brown Backs Leon Edwards in Showdown with ‘Motherf*cker’ Colby Covington
As for who comes out on top when they do eventually step inside the Octagon, many have suggested that Colby Covington’s ability to smother an opponent for 25 minutes will be too much for Leon Edwards to overcome. However, Randy Brown disagrees with that sentiment, believing that the vast improvement in takedown defense displayed by Leon Edwards in his trilogy bout with Kamaru Usman shows that ‘Rocky’ is more than capable of handling anything ‘Chaos’ can throw at him.
“He (Covington) presents some stuff that could give him (Edwards) trouble, but I do think he gets it done,” Brown told InsideFighting. “The way his wrestling looked last time against Usman… Leon’s grappling is much improved. He’s always been a great grappler, but his defense is much improved since the first time he fought Usman.
“We’ll see how it goes. I think that he can get it done. I would love to see him get it done. I think that he can. I’m rocking with him all the way through,” Brown continued. “But Colby’s a motherf*cker” (h/t MMA News).
Colby Covington is 2-2 in his last four outings with both losses coming against then-champion Kamaru Usman. His lone wins during that run, which stretches back to 2019, came against Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal. Two fighters who are no longer part of the UFC roster and exited the promotion on matching four-fight losing streaks.
Meanwhile, Leon Edwards has won his last 11-straight, including back-to-back wins against Kamaru Usman to both capture and defend the welterweight world title.
