Who won Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards?

Nate Diaz went toe-to-toe with Leon Edwards for five rounds in an epic match at UFC 263. Edwards got the better of the exchanges in four out of five rounds, which earned him a unanimous decision victory. All three judges scored the fight 49-46 in the Englishman's favor.

In the last minute of the fifth round, however, Nate Diaz hit 'Rocky' with a clean shot that visibly rocked the Brit. However, Edwards managed to survive the round and emerged victorious in the bout.

Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards scorecards [Image courtesy: ufc.com]

'Rocky' won the first four rounds 10-9 on all the judges' scorecards. In the last round, Diaz came out strong with a 10-9 across the board.

Since their bout, Leon Edwards has gone on to win the UFC welterweight title in a rematch with Kamaru Usman at UFC 278. The fight was reminiscent of Edwards' bout with Diaz, except this time it was Usman who was dominating the fight. In a last-ditch effort, 'Rocky' threw a head-kick that shut Usman's lights out in the fifth round. Leon Edwards has a UFC record of 12-2-1(NC) and an overall MMA record of 20-3-1(NC).

Diaz went on to win against Tony Ferguson at UFC 279 in what was his last fight in the promotion. He submitted 'El Cucuy' via a guillotine choke in the fourth round. Nate Diaz has a UFC record of 16-11 and an overall MMA record of 21-13.

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Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards: Fight stats

Nate Diaz vs. Leon Edwards was an exciting bout that saw the Birmingham fighter edge out the Stockton native via a unanimous decision. While Edwards won the first four rounds, the most exciting moment took place in the fifth where he almost got finished by Diaz.

According to the official UFC stats, Edwards had a strike rate of 58%, landing a total of 83 out of 139 strikes attempted on Diaz. Meanwhile, Nate Diaz had a strike rate of 46% where he landed 130 out of 223 attempted strikes on 'Rocky'.

Edwards also managed to take Diaz down four times with a total control time of 4:59 minutes. Diaz, on the other hand, landed zero takedowns and had a total control time of 1:53 minutes in the bout.

In terms of significant strikes, Edwards landed 77 out of 132 total strikes, whereas Diaz landed 76 out of 162 strikes.

Leon Edwards was coasting to a decisive victory before a Stockton slap and left cross combo had him in all sorts of trouble. However, the Birmingham fighter survived to win the fight which earned him a title shot. Had the Stockton native finished him in the fifth round, we would be talking about a very different story today.

Watch the final minute of Diaz vs. Edwards below (via The Glove Touch YouTube)

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