Leon Edwards’ next fight should be against Islam Makhachev because his chin wouldn’t…

Spaghetti might snap, but Leon’s never folded—except to the ref’s card, and even then you lot were already screaming "fraud round 2." Look, Makhachev’s as slick as they come, but Leon walked through the fire four times against Usman and still had the stamina to out-point a guy who gashed his forehead in round 10. If Islam had a chin-killer, Leon’s days as Welterweight king wouldn’t still be ticking over while half the division is busy rehabbing rib cages.

Ah but mate—Makhachev’s slick *and* he’s got that Sambo grappler brain like Khabib’s bastard lovechild 💀 he’ll sniff out a cut kick, stuff Leon against the cage like it’s a Sunday League ref, and boom—no more Edwards walk-off! And don’t even start on that chin you meff, Usman rocked him twice already this year and Leon had the “I’ll just smile and sell tickets” energy 😂 like when City fans celebrate a 3-0 lead at 80 mins. Makhachev’s hands might as well be hammers wrapped in dishcloths for all Leon’s “let’s go shopping” guard. Class or nah?

Here’s the thing about Leon’s chin: it isn’t that he folds to every big shot, it’s that once he’s rocked, his brain turns to custard for about twenty seconds. Remember 2022 in London against Kamaru Usman? Second round: straight right lands—Leon’s gloves drop like a pair of surprised curtains, legs go noodle, referee jumps in while Leon’s still trying to remember which side up he’s supposed to be. Came back, sure, but that wasn’t skill, that was rubber-band physics. Against Islam Makhachev the same tape would look like a highlight reel of Leon’s skull getting gift-wrapped for a boxing day sale—Sambo clinch, chain wrestling, trap the lead hand, then the hammer from hell. Edwards might survive thirty seconds, but he won’t be the same Edwards who walks out for the second round.

ever seen a proper welterweight chin outside of old school belts who used to walk into fireworks shows for fun? back in the day when the sport still had a pulse, fighters carried that granite in their bones right past the halfway mark—think Robbie Lawler getting dropped by Hendrix and getting straight back up like nothing happened, or maybe even Robbie Keane’s old legs keeping him going through every tackle. but leon? oh mate, leon’s got that warm cheese for a skull, that’ll wobble at the first decent jab thrown by someone who actually knows what a liver shot looks like. remember when the young lot were all “nah mate, it’s his volume that wins” after that contrived knockout over covington? but when the real gloves came off against usman, the cheese did what cheese does—spread everywhere. second round clock hits 2:38, right hand lands like a truck full of anvil mixtapes, and suddenly edwards is trying to count ceiling tiles instead of throwing hands. that’s not a one-off, that’s a pattern. makhachev’s got that sambo brain as truefanafan said, but more importantly he’s got the wrists—if you’ve ever rolled with someone who treats your head like a nail they’re trying to hammer straight, you’ll know the difference between “rocked” and “rearranged.” leon’s not built for that kind of chess, he’s built for brawls where the other lad’s vision blurs after round three. i’ve sat in london o2 since the prelims when leon was still selling tickets like a carnival worker, and back then the crowd roared for the grin more than the grit. but makhachev? the man doesn’t sell tickets, he breaks them. imagine the same o2 crowd going silent for thirty seconds while leon’s cranium gets gift-wrapped in sambo straps and moscow hammer combos. thirty seconds is generous—by fifteen he’ll be trying to remember which way the cage opens.

Name one fight in the last three years where Makhachev even came close to rocked his opponent more than two seconds after the bell rang — ever seen him walk away from a clean shot? Last time out he took Moisés Gonçalves' best shot without blinking, then immediately fired off a takedown because the Brazilian's gloves were stuck to his ears. Leon’s glass act might make great headlines, but at least when that chin cracks it’s usually still attached come round three — Islam doesn’t give you that luxury.

I see where you’re coming from with the Kamaru tape—and I’ve watched that second round at 1am in Sydney more times than I’d care to admit—but let’s not pretend Makhachev’s resume is just a highlight reel of skull-crushing. TheVetGuy’s got a point there: Islam might be the most accurate ground-and-pound artist since Khabib, but that chin of his has never been tested like Leon’s. Last time I checked, Moisés Gonçalves isn’t exactly a ranked welterweight with a liver like granite, so yeah, Makhachev walked away unscathed—but that doesn’t mean Leon’s "warm cheese" would fare any better. That said, I’ll admit this: if Makhachev gets Leon squared up against the cage and starts weaving those Sambo elbows, it’s not just the chin at risk—it’s the whole *identity* of Edwards’ walking out celebration.

That Kamaru tape still haunts me—Leon’s chin isn’t made of porcelain, it’s more like a particularly fragile custard someone left on the windowsill overnight. Makhachev wouldn’t need thirty seconds to turn that skull into confetti; Islam’s got hands you don’t just walk through, they’re the kind that split seams. But at the same time, I’ve seen Leon drag himself off the canvas before, twice in a single year against Usman, and then still have the stamina to outpoint a man who’d shredded half his face by the tenth round. Makhachev’s grappling is another universe, no argument there—but Leon’s heart’s always been bigger than the doubt creeping in. So tell me this: if the gong rings and Leon’s already tangled up in that Sambo, does he survive long enough to even recognise which part of his own game plan’s left?