Yves Edwards

From CageWiki

1 Profile
2 Early Career
3 UFC and PRIDE
4 Bodog, EliteXC and Strikeforce
5 Mixed martial arts record
6 Gallery
7 External links

Profile

Yves Edwards (born September 30, 1976) is a Bahamian professional mixed martial artist training out of American Top Team.

He stands 5 ft. 10 in. (178 cm) tall and fights in the lightweight division (155 lbs.).

Edwards is a UFC and PRIDE veteran with his last bout taking place under the Strikeforce banner.

Early Career

Yves Edwards made his professional mixed martial arts debut at World Pankration Championships 1 on October 26, 1997. He defeated the superbly named, Todd Justice, via rear naked choke in 5:46 of round 1.

Edwards suffered his first professional defeat in his next three months later as he was defeated by Joe Hurley via decision.

After two more first round victories, Edwards was defeated again, this by UFC veteran, Fabiano Iha via armbar submission at an Extreme Challenge event.

Edwards rebounded from the loss to close out 1998 with a TKO over Louie Cercedez and then open 1999 with victories over Thomas Denny and Anthony Holiday.

His win streak was halted at three however as the much larger, Nate Marquardt put an end to the streak with a heel hook submission at the Bas Rutten Invitational 4 in August of 1999.

In a familiar pattern, Edwards racked up another couple of wins over decent competition (Shannon Ritch, Aaron Riley, and Stacy Coughlin) before losing again via submission. This time he was defeated by Japanese legend, Rumina Sato at SuperBrawl 17 in April, 2000 via rear naked choke.

That loss would be his only blemish of 2000 as he went on to rack up five victories to close out the year which included a submission win over future UFC competitor, Pete Spratt.

Edwards pushed his winning run to six to begin 2001, but that is where the run would end as he was on the losing end of a decision to Jeremy Williams at a King of the Cage event in February.

A month later, Edwards claimed a one night, four man tournament held by the Renegades Extreme Fighting organization as he submitted Bone Sayavonga and knocked out Jeff Lindsay.

After drawing with CJ Fernandes in his next bout, Edwards faced Aaron Riley in a rematch from their 1999 scrap with Edwards repeating the result of the first to win by decision and push his record to 18-5-1.

UFC and PRIDE

In September, 2001, Edwards made his UFC debut as he faced off against future UFC welterweight champion, Matt Serra at UFC 33. Serra constantly went for the takedown for the entire three rounds with Edwards defending for the majority. The bout went to the judges and Serra was declared the majority decision victor.

Three months later, Edwards headed outside of the UFC to face Kultar Gill in Hawaii. He defeated the Canadian via heel hook submission in the second round.

Looking to get his first UFC victory, Edwards faced Japanese fighter, Caol Uno at UFC 37. Unable to get off much offense, Edwards was controlled for three rounds and defeated via unanimous decision.

Just over a month later, Edwards earned his first UFC victory as he defeated Joao Marcos Pierini via TKO due to injury at the awkwardly titled, UFC 37.5.

A victory outside the UFC was followed by two inside, as Edwards submitted Rich Clementi with a rear naked choke at UFC 41 and battered Eddie Ruiz to a unanimous decision at UFC 43.

In August, 2003, Edwards headed over to Japan where he was defeated in a Shooto bout by Tatsuya Kawajiri by unanimous decision.

Returning to the UFC, Edwards notched his fourth straight UFC victory as he pounded out Nick Agallar in the second round at UFC 45.

A victory over Deshaun Johnson in the WEC followed before Edwards facing Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, Hermes Franca at UFC 47. In an excellent bout, the two fighters engaged energetically in all areas for the full fifteen minutes in a razor thin bout. Edwards came out on top however as two judges gave him the nod and the split decision victory.

With the victory many fans thought that he and Josh Thomson were now the two best lightweights in the UFC. The two squared off against each other at UFC 49 in what many thought should have been for the vacant UFC lightweight title. In another excellent bout, the two traded heavy strikes early with the first round culminating in Thomson moving backwards and then turning to throw a spinning back fist while Edwards raced forward and threw a flying head kick that knocked Thomson out cold.

Soon after the bout the UFC decided to do away with the lightweight division and thus Edwards was forced to look outside the UFC for future bouts. His next two bouts took place in the New Jersey based, Euphoria promotion as he scored a TKO over Naoyuki Kotani and another mightily close split decision victory over Hermes Franca.

Three months later, Edwards found himself fighting for the premiere Japanese promotion, the PRIDE Fighting Championships. He faced off against Dokonjonosuke Mishima at PRIDE: Bushido 7 and submitted the tough Japanese fighter with an armbar at 4:36 of round 1.

In September, 2005, Edwards faced off against Joachim Hansen in the first round of PRIDE's 2005 Lightweight Tournament. The bout took place at PRIDE: Bushido 9 and saw Edwards go down via split decision in a close bout.

The UFC decided to reinstate the lightweight division in 2006, with UFC 58 featuring its return. Edwards was brought back into the promotion to face Canadian and TKO champion, Mark Hominick on the main card. Edwards was hurt with a body kick in the second round and then caught and submitted with a triangle choke/armbar combination on the ground to end his UFC return in disappointment.

Edwards halted his two fight slide at PRIDE: Bushido 10 under a month later when he scored a decision victory over Seichi Ikemoto but he was unable to gather success at UFC 61 when he was stopped on cuts by TUF 2 winner, Joe Stevenson.

Bodog, EliteXC and Strikeforce

With an unsuccessful second stint in the UFC, Edwards left the promotion and signed to fight with the upstart, BodogFight promotion. He made his debut for the promotion in December, 2006 and was defeated by future WEC featherweight champion, Mike Brown via unanimous decision after three rounds.

Seven months later, things went from bad to worse for Edwards as he was knocked out cold by Jorge Masvidal with a head kick in his last bout for Bodog.

Edwards was in luck however as he was picked up by another burgeoning promotion in EliteXC. He made his debut for them in November of that year at EliteXC: Renegade. He snapped his three fight losing streak by securing a rear naked choke on Nick Gonzalez in 3:05 of round 1.

Just one month later, Edwards submitted Alonzo Martinez with a rear naked choke at an HDNet Fights event in Dallas, Texas.

Edwards looked back to his best at EliteXC: Street Certified in February, 2008 when he knocked out James Edson Berto with a flying knee while Berto was attempting a single leg takedown.

The win earned Edwards a shot at the EliteXC lightweight title held by KJ Noons. The bout took place in Hawaii at EliteXC: Return of the King and things did not go to plan for Edwards as he was blitzed by Noons in 48 vicious seconds.

A five month break from fighting ended in November of 2008 when Edwards signed to fight at Strikeforce: Destruction. He faced UFC veteran, Duane Ludwig and after three rounds dropped a unanimous decision leaving his record at 34-15-1.