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#3 Best: Edwards and Craig and the late, late show
Talk about leaving it late. The fights might’ve told completely different stories, but last night’s show went into the record books for featuring two of the latest finishes in UFC history from British fighters Leon Edwards and Paul Craig. Both men won their fights with just one second remaining on the clock in the third round.
Firstly Edwards – the prospect from Birmingham had largely dominated his opponent Peter Sobotta in the first two rounds and looked to be cruising to a unanimous decision, but after opening a cut on his opponent late in the third, he sensed his chance and was able to use some nasty ground-and-pound to put the German away right before the final buzzer.
The win was Edwards’ 5th in a row and while he’s unlikely to be facing Darren Till – who he called out post-fight – in his next match, a top ten opponent like Donald Cerrone or Jorge Masvidal would make for a good fight. He’s improved dramatically since his debut – particularly in his grappling – and the way he’s going he isn’t far from being considered a legitimate title contender.
And secondly, Scotland’s Craig, who was coming into his fight last night with his back to the wall, big time. He’d been beaten and stopped by Tyson Pedro and Khalil Rountree in his last two fights, and this was the final one on his UFC contract. And opponent Magomed Ankalaev was bringing a fearsome reputation into his Octagon debut, having won all 9 of his professional fights.
For the first two rounds, it looked like Ankalaev would make it 10, as he was beating Craig standing and mauling him on the ground when the fight went there. The third round appeared to be heading his way too – likely a 10-8 even – when Craig threw up a last-ditch triangle choke with moments to go. Somehow Ankalaev didn’t see the choke coming and didn’t react quickly enough, and with just a second remaining, he was forced to tap out.
The win goes down as one of the all-time great UFC comebacks – up there with Silva vs. Sonnen and Elkins vs. Bektic – and will probably be enough to save Craig’s UFC career. The Scottish fighter left it very late, but pulled a miracle out of the bag and provided the fans with one of the show’s most memorable moments.
