SALT LAKE CITY – Leon Edwards is curious to see how Kamaru Usman will bounce back.
Edwards dethroned welterweight champion Usman (20-2 MMA, 15-1 UFC) on Saturday at UFC 278 night in one of the most shocking results in MMA history. Down on the scorecards and with less than a minute left in their championship fight, Edwards (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) connected with a head kick that knocked out Usman and handed him his first defeat in the UFC.
Few expected that outcome. Many had Usman as the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world entering UFC 278, and he was even talking about a potential move to light heavyweight in the near future. Because of that, Edwards wonders if Usman will be the same after such a devastating loss.
“I’d love to see how he comes back,” Edwards said at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference. “Because when you think you’re that great and then get knocked out clean like that, you change people. So let’s see.”
Usman entered UFC 278 on a 19-fight winning streak, which included a win over Edwards and five consecutive title defenses. It’s undeniable he’s one of the best fighters in the world.
Yet Edwards never thought of him as a pound-for-pound great and refused to hype him up.
“I didn’t build him up to be this pound-for-pound GOAT, as everyone said he is,” Edwards said. “I said it all week: ‘I don’t believe he’s the pound-for-pound (best).’
“You have to be better than just wrestling and boxing. I’m a mixed martial artist – I can do it all. I took him down in the first round. He had never been taken down before. So I broke the 100 percent record.”
Saturday was a monumental moment for Edwards’ career. He had to go unbeaten 10 bouts that spanned seven years in order to get a chance at becoming UFC champion. It was the culmination of a long and tough journey.
“I was brought down,” Edwards said regarding the feeling of becoming champion. “It all just came on top of me – everything that I’ve been through, the road and the path I took to get here. It was difficult to put into words what this means to me and my family and people that I grew up with. It all just came down to me. It all just came down on me. It’s hard to explain it and put it into words.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 278.
