Ben Askren found Colby Covington’s game plan vs. Leon Edwards strange.
Covington was hesitant and tentative in a unanimous decision loss to welterweight champion Edwards this past Saturday at UFC 296. He found little success at the end when he took Edwards down in Round 5.
Askren expected more from Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC), but thinks the danger of Edwards’ (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) striking had something to do with his lackluster performance.
“I don’t know what his strategy was,” Askren told Middle Easy. “I think the best strategy for victory for him was make cardio a factor, get the takedowns, stay on top – which is what he did in the fifth round. But I think Leon kind of said, ‘I’m going to concede this round; I’ve won this fight’ – that type of thing. I don’t know if that was the right move by him, but that’s what he did. It looked like he was kind of fearful of Leon’s striking and just stayed back and never got in the groove.
“Even in those grappling exchanges later on, Leon proved himself to be more than formidable. There’s a few times I think he even got over-aggressive, maybe overconfident, and ended up in a bad position because of it. On Leon’s end, I really wish he would have turned it up at some point. I think we all came away with the fight with the notion that he’s the better fighter, but if he really would have pressed it, it feels like he could have landed a lot more punches and strikes. He was content to win and not dominate.”
After the loss, Covington called out Stephen Thompson, who was submitted by Shavkat Rakhmonov on the same night. Askren sees Rakhmonov as a better option for Covington if he ever wants another shot at gold.
“Maybe Shavkat,” Askren said. “I don’t know if Shavkat would take the fight. The one that makes sense is if you go Leon vs. Belal (Muhammad) and then you go Shavkat vs. Covington. And if Colby were to beat Shavkat, maybe he gets another title shot because that is someone who would make you worthy of that.
“Stephen Thompson is older. He’s kind of on the downhill a little bit if you look at his record. I like him, so it pains me to say that, so maybe Sean Brady or someone to that effect. But I think the one that makes sense is Leon vs. Belal and Shavkat vs. Colby, and the winner gets next.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
