Footage has surfaced of Leon Edwards extensively drilling the head kick that he knocked out Kamaru Usman with in their UFC 278 title fight.
Edwards, 30, produced a last-gasp knockout against Usman with less than a minute left in their welterweight title fight to become the first Jamaican-born and second British champion in UFC history. 'Rocky' returned to the UK on Wednesday after his career-defining win and received a hero's welcome from family and friends at Birmingham Airport.
Remarkably, a video has emerged of Edwards practising the fateful kick during training, with his trainers also highlighting the technique whilst breaking down Usman's past fights. The Brit's head coach, Henry Cleminson, can be heard saying in the video: "If he starts throwing some shots and starts dipping his head away, that's when we're looking for the head kick."
Edwards said he knew the head kick would land when he feinted a similar shot earlier on in the fight and felt Usman react to it. His brother Fabian, who is a top middleweight contender in Bellator, was also shouting from the corner for Edwards to throw the head kick which would ultimately crown him champion.
“I set it up with inside leg kicks and stuff like that," Edwards said of the kick on The MMA Hour. "I knew it was coming. I thought in my head, ‘This is the shot.’ If it’s going to land, it’s going to land now or no and I didn’t look for it the whole fight. I thought this is the moment. This is going to land. I need it to land now.”
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Edwards said he wants to make the first defence of his title in the UK, mooting bitter rival Jorge Masvidal as a potential opponent before his win last weekend. Given Usman - who defeated the Brit via unanimous decision in 2015 - was winning the fight up until the knockout, a trilogy fight with Edwards is plausible for the former champion once he has recovered from the loss.
UFC boss Dana White has stated the promotion is looking at all venues in England as potential venues for Edwards' next fight, telling reporters: "This thing is going to be so huge not just for the UK but for Europe. We would hold it during prime time in the UK. We're looking at all the venues in England, not just London, we're looking at everything. There's a lot of curfews and things you've got to deal with England, but we literally worked on that today."
