UFC heavyweight Tom Aspinall is worried Kamaru Usman rushed into a trilogy fight with Leon Edwards too soon after his KO loss.
Usman, 35, looks to win back his UFC welterweight title less than seven months after losing it to Edwards in their rematch. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was dominating the fight before being knocked out with a last-gasp head-kick to lose his belt with less than a minute remaining. It was Usman's first defeat in almost a decade and almost marked the only time he's been knocked out in his professional career.
Aspinall has questioned whether the former champion is facing Edwards on too quick of a turnaround following his KO defeat, stating: "The thing that concerns me is that was a heavy knockout, like six or seven months ago. Can the brain physically recover that quick from something like that?
"How is his brain going to react when it gets shaken up six months after a really heavy knockout, he was ice cold on the floor with his eyes wide open. That's some heavy stuff, I don't know if I know would want a turnaround that quick if it happened to me.
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"Something else is how does that play into the psychological aspect of it. When you're being woken up by the referee, you've got doctors around you and not even got a win since. That's got to play some kind of psychological warfare with you, you've got to be battling something when stepping in there."
Usman would become back just the fourth UFC fighter in history to win back his title in an immediate rematch if he reclaims it against Edwards. After dominating the large majority of their past two fights, Aspinall is unsurprised that Usman is confident he can win back his belt but has warned the 35-year-old that the brain is that "can't be messed with."
"It's difficult because you've got your brain and then you've got your ego. Your brain is something to be messed with, you have to be very careful A former champion who has beat this guy before and was winning the fight last time, he's going to want to jump right back in there and do it again."
Watch UFC 286 live on BT Sport Box Office on Saturday, March 18. Coverage of the main card will start from 9pm. The prelims will be available to watch for free from 7pm on YouTube, BTSport.com, BT Sport App and BT Sport Box Office App.
