Yves Edwards Earns Long Awaited Elite XC Title Shot

It's a fight nearly 11 years in the making for Yves Edwards, but he wants no part of the championship hype.

The veteran of 48 bouts, including battles with Caol Uno, Nate Marquardt, Josh Thomson and Hermes Franca, gets his first shot at a major title when he faces former training partner Karl James Noons in the lightweight main event of EliteXC's latest show - Elite Xtreme Combat: Noons vs Edwards Saturday in Honolulu, Hawaii.

No fighter straps on the gloves and pours countless hours into training without thoughts of winning a title. Edwards is no different, but as he told MMAjunkie.com the opportunity is not something on which he's focusing.

"I don't think it's going to sink in until after I get it, and I'm glad I'm feeling that way," said Edwards, who makes his home in Conroe, Texas, north of Houston, and splits training between Texas and American Top Team's training center in Florida. "You can start to get too excited and, all of sudden, you get in the cage and that dude don't want to lose, and then things change."

Just a year ago, a title shot seemed a remote possibility for a fighter in the midst of the worst slide of his career. The crowd favorite and master of the self-labeled "Thugjitsu" style of fighting had lost five of six fights, with his lone victory coming against a sub .500 opponent. His contract with the UFC wasn't renewed, and he was struggling to regain the form that made him one of the world's top lightweights in 2004 and early 2005.

Edwards, 31, didn't recognize it himself, but his game wasn't evolving. Fortunately for him, an old friend had the gumption to step forward and tell Edwards what he needed to hear. Lin Oeding, who, along with Edwards, was one of the first mixed martial artists in Houston, delivered the harsh truth.

"He opened my eyes," said Edwards. "He told me the game is bigger than me staying here in Houston and is bigger than doing the same thing I've been doing for the past six or seven years."

The intervention wasn't something Edwards asked for, and he wasn't keen on change at the time. Grudgingly, he gave in. The move was the beginning of reigniting his career.

"He introduced me to some really good wrestlers and brought me out to California to train with different boxing coaches and guys like Manny Gamburyan and Antonio McKee," Edwards said. "It made me decide that I needed to branch out. I was a little too comfortable in my own zone."

Edwards took the change in training a step further by connecting with American Top Team in September of 2007. He hasn't lost since. A three-fight winning streak has earned him a shot at Noons, who claimed the EliteXC 160-pound title by beating Nick Diaz this past November. The fight is an experience mismatch on paper, in Edwards' favor.

"No matter what people think about them (EliteXC) trying to set it up so that Nick Diaz would rule the weight class, Diaz is a tough son of a bitch, and KJ took him out," Edwards said. "I can't look past this kid."

The fight offers a true contrast in styles. The 25-year-old champion Noons is the much better boxer, while Edwards has a decided edge in jiu-jitsu.

Edwards and Noons met nearly nine years ago shortly after Noons graduated from Clements High School in the Houston suburb of Sugar Land. Edwards' trainer at the time, Saul Soliz, brought Noons in for some sparring. Edwards recalls being impressed by the teenager's power and boxing skills.

He knew Noons had potential.

"We hit it off pretty well and had a good time," said Edwards. "He was a good kid. I think the future holds a lot of good things for him. This is the only fight I want him to lose."

Source: mmajunkie.com