UFC Fight Night Cowboy vs Edwards exclusive preview: Stage set for Octagon veteran to face rising British star

This weekend, in the humid climate of beautiful Singapore, a veteran of the Octagon will face off against a rising British star. Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone needs no introduction. A perennial contender in the lightweight - and now the welterweight - divisions, “Cowboy” has been headlining cards since before his opponent had a UFC contract. In recent fights he has been positioned to take on some of the toughest rising stars of the next generation. This weekend is no different. Across the Octagon will be a new challenge for Cerrone, but a fighter that has had the attention of the hardcore fans since his eight second knockout of Seth Baczynski, back in 2015.

Leon “Rocky” Edwards, born in Jamaica and now fighting out of Birmingham, is a lightning-fast, lethal striker. That fast knockout is a little uncharacteristic of Edwards though, as usually he likes his opponent to bring the fight to him, before he unleashes his strikes. This calm approach is misleading for opponents who feel that they can dictate the pace of the fight and push Edwards to work more than he would prefer. Unbeknown to them, he has the conditioning and speed to turn the tables at any point. He just waits until that sweet shot lands and their legs give out before fully committing to his offensive.

Cerrone has seen it all in the Octagon. A veteran of combat sports for over two decades, that wealth of experience has often been enough to outthink his foe without exposing himself to much danger. The reason that fans love to see Cowboy fight though, is because you know exactly what you are going to get from him: a real good scrap. With a kickboxing background, his fluid combinations have set up many one-kick finishes, with the best probably coming two years ago at UFC 202, against Rick Story. The flurry of punches pre-empting the kick forced Story into the line of fire and Cerrone had already taken aim.

Although Edwards has less than half the professional experience of Cerrone, this is where the fringe of the old-school and new-school overlap. “Cowboy” is somewhat treading water in the welterweight division and is unlikely to make another run at the title. Confident however that he has another five years of fighting ahead of him, he finds himself playing gatekeeper to the top ten. Recently we had Darren Till knocking on the door, who was able to hammer it down within a round, but a few months later Hawaiian standout, Yancy Medeiros, was turned away in less than a round trying the same thing.

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If you get past “Cowboy” then you are in the elite section of the weight class and you will be fighting other possible title contenders. For every rising prospect that “Cowboy” defeats, he slowly edges his way back up the rankings and may well get back to the UFC gold yet. For now it seems as though he is happy sorting the good from the great on the UFC’s behalf, and the fans love him for it. Whether Edwards is ready for the top or not, we are yet to see. He certainly believes it, and has been calling for this bout for over a year now. On Saturday he gets his opportunity to take a huge step forward in his young career and a win over a fighter like “Cowboy” garners much respect throughout the sport of MMA.

Before the headline fight begins we have a fight card laden with talent from around Asia and Australasia, as well as some strong talent travelling from farther afield. In the co-main event, seventh-ranked Ovince St. Preux will take on Tyson Pedro, in an important match in the light-heavyweight division. At UFC 221 Pedro secured an impressive win over his opponent, Saparbek Safarov, when he locked up a kimura grip whilst defending a takedown, and cranked his arm up his back. The torque on Safarov’s shoulder forced him to roll to try and escape but with the fence in his way, Tyson was able to get a leg over his head and pin him to finish the submission.

It’s already been listed as one of the best submission finishes in 2018 and was just a glimpse of the strength, creativity and potential of this young Australian. Since then he’s been out in the US training with main event fighter, Donald Cerrone, and feels he’s improving daily. At only 26 and not even into double figures in his professional career, the future is looking very bright for Pedro and a win over St. Preux really launches him into the top of the division at light-heavyweight. Ovince St. Preux is a big, powerful, multi-sport athlete, who took to combat sports a little late in the day. It hasn’t taken him long though to get up amongst the very best in the world.

His five round fight at UFC 197 with former champion, Jon Jones, was a shock to many people, but if you watch his fights with Shogun and Patrick Cummings, in 2014 and 2015 respectively, it’s clear why Jones didn’t take any risks. Even on one leg, thrown at awkward angles, moving backwards, sometimes with eyes closed, his punches still land with fight-ending power. He is learning fast and with his athletic ability, when he does pick up a new skill he has the physicality to make the most of it. This will be a fascinating contest between two men that could be contenders in this division for years to come. It may be a case of the first to make a mistake is the first one left sleeping on the canvas.

All the way down the card we have great match-ups. The women’s flyweight bout between Jessica-Rose Clark and Jessica “Evil” Eye is definitely one to watch. After speaking to both fighters this week, I can’t think of a time when I’ve seen two fighters equally as fired up and ready for war. There have been a few words back and forth between them but the real fireworks will be saved until the Octagon doors close.

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Watch UFC FIGHT NIGHT®: COWBOY VS. EDWARDS live on BT Sport 2 from 1pm BST on Saturday, June 23, or catch the Early Prelims exclusively on UFC Fight Pass from 9:30am BST