Preview: UFC Fight Night ‘Shogun vs. St. Preux’

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WELTERWEIGHTS

Claudio Henrique da Silva (10-1, 1-0 UFC) vs. Leon Edwards (8-1, 0-0 UFC)

THE MATCHUP: London-based da Silva gets an opportunity to fight in his home country of Brazil against a fellow resident of the United Kingdom in the debuting Edwards. Silva made his first UFC appearance in March, taking a close decision from Brad Scott, while Edwards’ most recent fight was a victory that gave him the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts welterweight title in September.

Silva is a submission specialist by trade with no more than mediocre ancillary skills. His striking serves almost exclusively as a bridge to bring him into the clinch or cover his takedowns. On the feet, Silva is glacially slow and almost impossibly awkward, but so far, his game has worked well enough for what he is trying to do.

While he lacks anything resembling an explosive shot, he has surprisingly crafty wrestling chops and does a solid job of chaining together his takedowns, running the pipe on his single-legs and switching to a neat ankle pick when his opponent commits to stuff the single. On the ground is where Silva really shines. He excels at finding the back, maintains a heavy base on top and works methodically toward the submission.

Edwards is Silva’s polar opposite, a quick and athletic kickboxer with big power in his diverse arsenal of strikes. Although he could stand to increase his offensive output and throw more combinations, Edwards mixes up potent, technically sound single punches and kicks with a flying knee as his opponents back toward the fence. He is especially good at drawing his opponent’s hands out of defensive position with his straight left and following with a high kick. On the regional scene, Edwards’ takedown defense has been good enough to get by, and on those rare occasions when he has found himself on the ground, he has been able to scramble back to his feet and land heavy strikes from the top.

BETTING ODDS: N/A

THE PICK: Edwards is younger, has better physical tools and is a drastically better striker; while Silva’s wrestling is decent, it is not demonstrably better than the fighters Edwards has routinely stuffed on the regional scene. It may take him a while to find his rhythm, and he will likely have to scramble back to his feet once or twice, but I think he will land a big uppercut or counter knee as Silva changes levels for the knockout victory in the second round.

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