Kamaru Usman has denied that he is suffering from a serious knee injury ahead of his UFC title fight against Leon Edwards.
Usman, 35, looks to win back his welterweight title against familiar foe Edwards when the pair meet in the main event of UFC 286 on Saturday night at The O2 arena. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' handed Edwards his last UFC defeat when the pair first met in 2015 but Edwards evened the score when he produced a last-gap knockout against Usman in their rematch last August.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan has claimed Usman told him he often finds it hard to walk on concrete because of his chronic knee pain. Usman has been filmed training with a knee brace as he prepares for his trilogy fight with Edwards, but the former champion downplayed rumours of a serious knee injury by insisting that he's suffered from knee pain since his college wrestling days.
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"My knee pain has been bad for 10 years, I've had multiple meniscus surgeries and this is just from wrestling," Usman said. "I was so hard on my body wrestling because I just wanted to be the champion, I wanted to get there. I was willing to sacrifice whatever it took to get there, but my knee pain has been bad since I crossed over to MMA. It hasn't stopped me, I'm still whipping dude's a***.
Usman hasn't worn a knee brace for any of his UFC fights and he shrugged off talks of wearing one for his trilogy fight with Edwards, stating: "I just train with it, knee pain sucks. I'm sure everybody here as something that hurts, you get up and your back may be a little sore," he said.
"Of course it's sore, I train with it. When I get in there...do you see anything that looks like it hurts on me when I'm fighting? I fought Colby Covington with a hole in my hand, I fought Jorge Masvidal after not throwing my right hand for almost three weeks. It doesn't matter, once we get in there I'm going to throw everything at this guy."
Bookies have Usman as the betting favourite to win his belt back against Edwards despite being brutally knocked out in their second meeting just over six months ago. Usman is relishing the opportunity to produce an upset on Edwards' home turf and warned his rival that he is feeling "violent" ahead of their trilogy clash.
