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Betting: UFC 286 Instant Reaction

Yahoo Sports Videos

Kevin Iole recaps the UFC 286 PPV Card from London, England.

Video Transcript

KEVIN IOLE: What is up, everybody? Kevin Iole from Yahoo Sports here. UFC 286 is in the books. What a fight night it was. And in the last two fights, did not disappoint. But Leon Edwards, if you thought that head kicked knockout at UFC 278 of Kamaru Usman in August was a fluke, well guess again. Leon Edwards retains the championship by grinding out a difficult decision. No knockdowns, no flashy hit kicks for Leon Edwards, just a lot of good striking.

He beats Usman by majority decision. He wins by scores of 48-46 twice in 47-47, cashing a nice ticket to nice payday for those people who play the underdog. Edwards went off it plus 210 at Bet MGM, where Kamaru Usman, the former champion, was a -275 favorite. So tough luck for the people who did wager on the former champion right there. There was a little drama at the end of the fight because there was a point deducted from Leon Edwards in the third round for grabbing the fence.

So no one knew how that would play off, but two judges gave four rounds to Leon Edwards. The third judge gave three. So with the point off, he ends up winning a majority decision instead of a unanimous decision. A good fight but it could hold not hold a candle to the co-main event between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev. We knew this was going to be a good fight, and boy did it deliver.

Just in case he said afterward, he was not looking to fight that kind of crazy fight. But with his style and Rafael Fiziev's style, they couldn't help it. The co-main event though, we had another underdog cover. Fiziev was a -250 favorite. Gaethje he was plus $1.90. So the people who bet on Justin Gaethje got two times for their money. It was 29-28 twice and 28-28. I'll tell you what, that fight could have gone either way. Fiziev started really strong early to tremendous work.

Gaethje came back. He kind of took the fight away at the end of the third round. He really did a good job in the second half of the third round, a fantastic fight. Neither guy really, really lost. But the victory does go to Justin Gaethje Quite a night in London at the O2 Arena for UFC 286. For Yahoo Sports, I am Kevin Iole.