UFC 286 Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman scorecards released

Leon Edwards clung on to his welterweight title with a second successive win over Kamaru Usman last night.

Having won the belt with a stunning final-round head kick last August, Edwards needed the judges at UFC 286 in London, but ran out a deserved winner after five rounds. And two judges scored the fight in Edwards' favour by two rounds (48-46), while the third scored the bout a draw (47-47).

"He didn’t get any takedowns and I was defending multiple of his shots," said the winner. "I want to say thank you to him, he’s been a great competitor. I was trying to get the head kick, but fair play to him because he had perfect defence.”

Edwards connected with his left hand early in the opening round as Usman made a patient start to the trilogy, slowly increasing the pressure. But Edwards landed successive body kicks before successfully defending a takedown attempt against the cage as he did enough to edge the first session.