5 Things We Learned At UFC Singapore After Leon Edwards, Petr Yan and Jake Matthews All Impressed

UFC Singapore went down this morning and here are five things we learned.
June 23, 2018

UFC Fight Night 132 took place at the Indoor Stadium in Singapore this morning and Birmingham’s own Leon Edwards picked up the biggest win of his career in the main event.

Here’s what we learned this morning as Edwards got his hand raised at the Singapore Indoor Stadium

#1 – Edwards calls for UFC to visit Birmingham after outgunning Cerrone

Leon Edwards scored the biggest win of his career after outgunning Donald Cerrone in the main event.

The fight went the full five rounds, but Edwards for the most part always looked in control as he used his superior speed and agility to outwork and out strike Cerrone for the majority of the fight.

Edwards opened up a cut above Cerrone’s right eye early on and by round two the American was wearing covered in blood as the British fighter peppered him with kicks to both the inside leg and body.

Cerrone did his best to rally late on and up the pressure, but nearly every time he advanced forward looking to land straight punches, Edwards slipped and countered him with either kick or a left hand.

By round five the writing was on the wall and Edwards coasted to a clear decision victory taking all three scorecards unanimously.

The 48-47 scores suggested it was close, but those who saw the fight clearly knew that Edwards got the better of the veteran and put on one of the best performances of his career to date.

Speaking after the bout, Edwards called for a showdown in his own backyard of Birmingham with fellow welterweight Jorge Masvidal.

With six wins in a row now in the UFC, he can’t be too far off from bringing the promotion to the West Midlands.

#2 – Saint Preux goes through the fire to overcome Tyson Pedro

Ovince Saint Preux bounced back from his defeat to Ilir Latifi earlier this year, but he had to fight through a tough opening minute against Tyson Pedro to take a comeback victory.

Pedro started the contest well and after levelling Saint Preux with a flush right head kick, he followed up with a straight right hand to drop the American to the mat.

Just when it looked like Pedro would seal the early stoppage victory after locking in a guillotine, Saint Preux managed to make his way back to his feet, escape and then reverse a body lock takedown and end up in top position on the mat.

From there the finish was academic as Saint Preux fired in a few hammer fists before then submitting Pedro with an armbar.

It wasn’t the prettiest win of Saint Preux’s career but given the start he had in the fight, it was no doubt one of his hardest earned.

#3 – Eye finally on a roll at 125-pounds

Jessica Eye made it two wins in two in the UFC women’s flyweight division with a decision victory over Jessica-Rose Clark.

Prior to moving down to 125-pounds when the division was created last year, Eye had lost four on the bounce under the UFC banner and nearly went three years without getting her hand raised.

Eye’s luck appears to be turning around though in 2018 and after beating Kalindra Faria in January, she last evening did just about enough in all three rounds to oust a very game Clark.

Both women from the outset were happy to stand and trade and it was often Eye’s jab that was landing the most consistently in the opening rounds.

Clark, to her credit, came back firing in the last round, but Eye was never outgunned and was clearly doing the higher quality work of the two.

Unsurprisingly, Eye took the decision across all three scorecards and is now quietly building up a head of steam in the UFC’s newest division.

The post-fight speeches need a little work, but one more win and she’s in the mix of a title shot.

#4 – Yan has arrived in the UFC

Former ACB bantamweight champion Petr Yan has long been heralded as one of the brightest prospects on the entire MMA circuit and he proved exactly why last night.

Yan made his UFC debut taking on Japanese fighter Teruto Ishihara, a man with seven UFC bouts already to his name and with knockout power in his left hand.

Many prospects have fallen foul to the UFC jitters in their promotional debuts, but Yan looked absent of nerves as he set about his task quickly and he looked comfortable exchanging early with Ishihara on the feet.

After frenetic opening few minutes, Yan got his first-ever UFC win when he landed a spinning back fist, followed by a left hand to knock Ishihara down to the mat.

The Japanese fighter was clearly done and the referee did well to jump in before the Russian could dish out any further damage.

The bantamweight division is one of the most stacked in the UFC, but after witnessing what Yan did this morning, even those at the top of the pile will be looking over their shoulder.

#5 – Matthews is improving very fast

23-year-old Australian Jake Matthews picked up his third straight win in the UFC this morning with an impressive submission victory over Shinsho Anzai.

Despite his young age, the fight was Matthews’ tenth in the organization and with a UFC record of 7-3, he’s fast becoming of the younger generation welterweights to keep an eye on.

Matthews was simply too fast, too quick and too powerful for Anzai who took a pasting on the feet before being taken down to the mat, having his back taken and then getting choked unconscious.

It was a ruthless performance from Matthews, who like Yan, has to be considered one of the top prospects fighting at his weight class in the UFC.

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