Leon Edwards' mother cried for help when Nate Diaz rocked him in the fifth round at UFC 263
Leon Edwards once opened up about his mother's reaction to seeing her son getting rocked by Nate Diaz in the final round of their bout at UFC 263. Edwards went up against Diaz in a five-round welterweight contest in June 2021, and the Englishman dominated the Stockton slugger for most of the bout.
Given Diaz's legendary cardio and tank-like durability, it's no surprise that despite being pieced up for four rounds, the former lightweight title challenger managed to stun Edwards with a hard left hand in the fifth round. Instead of capitalizing on his opponent's vulnerability at that moment, Diaz chose to point and jeer at Edwards.
As expected, Nate Diaz's late offensive onslaught and his follow-up actions became the main talking points after the fight. While the MMA community saw it as an entertaining moment, the same could not be said for Edwards' mother.
In an interview with James English in July 2021, Leon Edwards was asked about how his mother reacted to seeing Diaz rock him in the fifth round. He replied:
"She’s a proper Jamaican, Jamaican, you know. She was watching when I got rocked by Diaz. When I came back, I was like, ‘Mum, what did you do?’. Like what happened when? She was like, ‘I opened the window and started screaming ‘help!"
Catch Leon Edwards' comments below (43:35):
When Leon Edwards praised Nate Diaz's durability and cardio
In the same interview, Leon Edwards discussed Nate Diaz's qualities as a fighter and expressed his awe at the former UFC star's unique lifestyle.
As mentioned, Diaz is widely considered to be one of the most durable and resilient fighters in all of MMA. Paired with his unrivaled cardio capacity, it's unsurprising that the Stockton slugger is among the most entertaining fighters the UFC has ever signed.
Speaking to James English, Leon Edwards opened up about the challenges of fighting an opponent like Nate Diaz. When asked if Diaz's tenacity was a result of his strong mentality, Edwards replied:
"I don't know, I don't know... He's just a tough, durable guy. It's f***ing madness, he smokes weed and sh*t so I don't understand where his cardio comes from. And he's vegan." [24:30]
After their fight, Edwards defeated Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 in August 2022 to win the welterweight title and defended it once in their rematch. Meanwhile, Diaz defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 in his last fight and exited the promotion in September 2022.