Christian Edwards abandoned chess, made it ugly for first UFC win

LAS VEGAS – Christian Edwards met the media Saturday after his win over Rodolfo Bellato at UFC Fight Night 289.

Edwards (9-6 MMA, 1-1 UFC) put Bellato (13-4-1 MMA, 2-2-1 UFC) away with a third-round TKO on the prelims at the Meta APEX. The win was Edwards' first in the UFC. The former training partner of Jon Jones had eight fights in Bellator to start his pro career, but the win over Bellato was his biggest yet.

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Edwards lost a short-notice UFC debut to Modestas Bukauskas earlier this year. Coincidentally. Edwards stepped in for Bellato in that fight, then went on to beat him Saturday.

Edwards highlights, UFC Fight Night 289

Edwards key quotes, UFC Fight Night 289

"That kind of fight is, overall, amazing for me and my development as a fighter. I needed one of those fights. In my career, I've never really had a back-and-forth fight like that where I've been rocked and had to come back and make the adjustments. It was fun. If I could describe it as anything, I'd describe as that – and violent, for sure."

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"To be totally honest, I was pretty stunned. I came back pretty quickly. I was able to clear the cobwebs pretty quickly. When my coaches told me in between rounds, they said, 'Go forward. When are you going forward? He doesn't have an answer.' I just changed the mindset of I'm not going to sit here and have a chess match with this guy. I'm going to come forward. I'm going to make it ugly. That's what I did (in the third), but in a beautiful way, of course."

"I'm thinking (I want to be back in) January, or if they have something in December. But probably January for me. Put me in the T-Mobile Arena (in Las Vegas). I'd like to fight in an arena. I love fighting at the APEX, but I want to fight in front of a big crowd. Wherever they go in December or January, I want to fight in an arena, for sure. I'm pretty open to whoever. Send them my way. I'll sign the contract. It doesn't matter."

Edwards post-fight interview, UFC Fight Night 289

See the video above.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Christian Edwards abandoned chess, made it ugly for first UFC win