Khabib Nurmagomedov has said he is unsure how Kamaru Usman will react to his knockout defeat by Leon Edwards, admitting: “A lot of people don’t recover.”
Usman lost the UFC welterweight title on Saturday when he was knocked out by a perfect head kick from Edwards, with just one minute left in their UFC 278 main event.
Edwards, who became Britain’s second ever UFC champion with the win, started well but was down on the judges’ scorecards when he produced a remarkable finish.
“I watched and honestly I was surprised – you could even say a little bit upset,” former lightweight champion Khabib told Ушатайка via Mr MMA Shorts.
”I have a good friendship with Kamaru and, of course, it was hard to watch as the best fighter in the world – who he is right now – got knocked out severely with 50 seconds remaining in the bout.
“I was thinking that [a decision win for Usman] is essentially how the contest will finish, just like he did to everyone else. But these fights are MMA, and you can see by yourself: For a second it all went wrong. Put his hand in the wrong place, your lights could go out if the proper defence is not in place. You can wake up in the locker room, and it’s over.”
Usman, 35, outpointed Edwards, 30, in 2015 as part of a long winning run that led to a title triumph in 2019 and five successful defences in a row.
“I’m aware that the trilogy is already in the works,” Khabib added. “I believe [Usman] can beat Leon Edwards, but after such a knockout, a lot of people don’t recover. It will be interesting to see, but I would love to see the trilogy.”
Khabib retired undefeated in 2020, moments after retaining the UFC lightweight title.
The Russian, who now primarily works as a coach, shares the manager as Usman.
