A welterweight championship matchup between previous foes, Kamaru Usman, and Leon Edwards is now officially set to take place at UFC 278 on August 20. from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Initially meeting back in December 2015 at UFC Fight Night Orlando in a preliminary card matchup, undisputed welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman handed Leon Edwards a unanimous decision defeat over the course of three rounds.
Returning for the first time since November of last year where he headlined UFC 268 at Madison Square Garden in a title rematch against former interim champion, Colby Covington, Usman will attempt to land his sixth successful championship defense in his rematch against Edwards.
Leon Edwards is undefeated in 10 fights since his 2015 loss to Kamaru Usman
Undefeated since his 2015 loss to Kamaru Usman, Birmingham native, Edwards most recently defeated former lightweight title challenger, Nate Diaz in June of last year at UFC 263 – landing a unanimous decision win over the Stockton native after five rounds. The promotion confirmed the pairing between Usman and Edwards on the broadcast for UFC 275 in Singapore.
This rematch comes with much higher stakes
@Usman84KG vs @Leon_EdwardsMMA
[ #UFC278 | Aug 20 | @VivintArena | @StateOfSport
— UFC (@ufc) June 12, 2022
In his first successful defense of the welterweight since his ascension to the throne in 2019, Usman managed to land a fifth round knockout win over Colby Covington – before then defeating Jorge Masvidal with a decision win, handing Gilbert Burns a knockout loss, and the finishing Masvidal in an April 2021 rematch.
For Edwards, the Team Renagade BJJ & MMA staple is currently in the midst of a 10 fight undefeated run at welterweight, landing an impressive victory over former undisputed lightweight champion, Rafael dos Anjos in that time to boot.
UFC 278 takes place on August 20. from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah – with a middleweight matchup featuring one-time title challenger, Paulo Costa, and former UFC and Strikeforce titleholder, Luke Rockhold also set to take place on the card.