Leon Edwards and Kanaru Usman both successfully made weight ahead of their UFC welterweight title clash in London on Saturday.
Edwards and Usman look settle their rivalry at The O2 arena with the scores between the pair currently at one apiece heading into their third meeting. Usman handed Edwards his last UFC defeat when they first met eight years ago and 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was on course to win their rematch last August until Edwards came from behind to knockout his rival with less than minute left in the fight.
'Rocky' looks to defend his belt on home turf against Usman and the title fight is now official as both men weighed in under the 170lb limit on Friday morning. Usman was the first fighter on the UFC 286 card to the weigh-in as he stepped on the scale at 170lb whilst Edwards came later on in the morning, also stepping on the scale at 170lb.
Top welterweight Colby Covington also made a surprise appearance at the UFC 286 weigh-ins as he flew over from America to serve as a backup for Edwards and Usman's title fight. The welterweight rivals were unaware that Covington was serving as the replacement fighter, but his services will likely not be needed as both Edwards and Usman looked in good condition as they made the 170b limit with no issues.
Things got heated when Edwards and Usman traded words at the their press conference earlier in the week, with the former champion being unsurprisingly heckled by the London crowd. Edwards said of his home support: "London, let's go! I'm honoured to be fighting here. This is my fourth time fighting at The O2 arena and now I'm back here as a champion, and still.
Who wins at UFC 286 - Leon Edwards or Kamaru Usman? Let us know your prediction in the comments section below
"It means the world to me, the road I had to travel to get here was hard. Everybody wrote me off and nobody gave me a chance, it was tough, but that built my character. I've worked so hard to get here and on Saturday night I'm going to make all the fans proud for sure."
Usman mocked Edwards' Brummie accent by saying: "The fans care about London bruv, they care about London. They don't give a s*** about you, they can understand me with my accent more than they can understand you!" Usman often struggled to get a word in as fans chanted "headshot, dead", the phrase said by Edwards just moments after he knocked out Usman.
