MMA fans fume after Leon Edwards’ Sports Personality of the Year snub despite becoming British UFC champion with impressive KO

Leon Edwards has missed out on a place in the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year 2022 shortlist, despite becoming a UFC world champion.

On Tuesday, the BBC announced a shortlist of six contenders to win the Sports Personality of the Year award, with many believing that Leon Edwards should be in contention.

Edwards, 31, from Erdington, Birmingham, knocked Kamara Usman out cold at UFC 278 in August to win the UFC’s welterweight title.

The impressive victory stunned viewers as it came in the dying stages of the fight, with Leon on course for defeat on the scorecards.

The 31-year-old dug deep in the fifth and final round, and with less than a minute to go, he sent the ‘Nigerian nightmare’ crashing to the canvas with a stunning head kick.

Edwards became only the second British fighter to hold a UFC world title, following in the footsteps of Michael Bisping, who won the middleweight title in 2016.

The MMA community have now vented their frustration after the British Mixed Martial artist was omitted from the list of nominees.

MMA and Boxing journalist Chisanga Malata wrote on Twitter: “You’re kidding with the omission of Leon Edwards. Seriously?! The man who came from nothing beats the P4P king in fairytale fashion to become the UK’s 2nd champ. A poster boy for doing things the right way. This expert panel should be embarrassed.”

TalkSPORT’s Ade Oladipo asked: “How does this list come about? Where’s Leon Edwards? Do people understand how dominant Usman was?”

Broadcaster Adam Catterall wrote: “Did anybody see that Leon Edwards fella becoming an undisputed UFC world champion, beating the P4P number one with a KO of the year contender in the last minute of a fight he was losing? Me neither, as it wasn’t on the BBC!”

Nick Peet claimed that the BBC are “out of touch” and said fighters are often overlooked.

He added: “As always, fight sports overlooked by out-of-touch Auntie!

“Leon Edwards defeats P4P #1, only 2nd British UFC champ in history. Natasha Jonas unifies the super-welter division with three wins in nine months. Brendan Loughnane wins four fights in eight months to be UK’s 1st PFL champ.”

Former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor Mcgregor even chimed in to share his thoughts, believing Leon’s performance was worthy of a nomination.

McGregor said: “Stop the nonsense “comeback” of the year. This is EVERYTHING of the year! Bar none. The timing of commentary. The timing of the fight. The shot itself. The KO. The ramifications. The post-speech. Pound-for-pound headshot. Dead! This lives on!”

One fan said it was an insult that Leon was not included in the list.

“The BBC is an absolute joke. Leon Edwards beat the P4P number 1 to become the second-ever British champion.

“Came back with a minute to go, in a fight he was losing, and everyone thought he was going to lose from the start. To not even be included is such an insult.”

Jamaican-born Edwards is prepping to return to the Octagon for a trilogy bout with Usman, which is expected to take place at UFC 286 in London on 18 March.

Sports Personality of the Year nominees includes England cricket captain Ben Stokes, footballer Beth Mead, snooker star Ronnie O’Sullivan, gymnast Jessica Gadirova, curler Eve Muirhead and runner Jake Wightman.

The winner will be announced during the live show on BBC One on Wednesday, 21 December, at 6:45 pm.

Eight-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt will receive the Lifetime Achievement award, while Argentina captain Lionel Messi is the World Sport Star of the Year following his World Cup win in Qatar.