Israel Adesanya 's words proved true as he predicted Leon Edwards would be the toughest challenger for Kamaru Usman 's welterweight belt.
Welterweight champion Usman was on his way to making the sixth defence of his title against Edwards in their rematch at UFC 278 on Saturday night, being up on the judges' scorecards heading into the final round. Edwards looked down and out as the fifth round unfolded, that was until he landed a perfect head kick which rendered Usman unconscious as he suffered his first UFC loss.
And although Adesanya backed Usman to win, he had labelled Edwards as his toughest challenger yet, stating on his YouTube channel: "The biggest threat to Kamaru's throne is Leon Edwards. "I'm going with Kamaru because of his momentum right now. Also, I know how hard he works. Usman is a guy right now that has momentum behind him and I feel like [Edwards] is a guy that deserves this title shot because he's been overlooked for so long."
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Edwards became the first Jamaican-born and second British champion in UFC history with the win, which is one of the latest finishes in a title fight. Adesanya admitted he had mixed feelings watching the fight, feeling upset for his close friend Usman but also happy for Edwards as the pair share the same manager in Tim Simpson for Paradigm Sports.
"What a finish, just like a real life Rocky story," Adesanya said. "It goes with his name, Leon 'Rocky' Edwards the new UFC welterweight champion. It's bittersweet, I'm so happy for Leon and Tim [Simpson] but then I'm so sad for Kamaru. I know they are going to have a [trilogy] or something.
"He was winning the first round, Kamaru said 'right' then stepped it up for the second, third and fourth. The fifth round Leon just switched on, even I thought he was getting discouraged because he was getting taken done. His coach gave him that speech at the end of the fourth, right before the fifth, it just switched him on. This is the game we play, congratulations to Leon Edwards."
Usman was taken to hospital straight after the knockout loss and will likely be handed a lengthy medical suspension for the nature of his defeat. Edwards, who extended his unbeaten run to 11 fights, has already stated he wants his first title defence to take place at Wembley Stadium with bitter rival Jorge Masvidal as a potential opponent.
