Thrice sharing the Octagon with incumbent welterweight champion, Leon Edwards, former pound-for-pound number one, Kamaru Usman has stuck his flag to the Birmingham native to retain his crown in his title fight with Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 this weekend.
Usman, who retains the number one rank at the welterweight limit following his trilogy fight loss to Edwards back in March of last year in London, has been sidelined since an impromptu move to middleweight back in October.
Tackling the unbeaten, Khamzat Chimaev on that occasion, Kamaru Usman turned in an impressive performance en route to a close, split decision loss to the Chechen in their short-notice UFC 294 co-main event fight.
And weighing up his return to the welterweight limit, in the form of a with the unbeaten, Ian Garry – Auchi native, Usman was also the subject of a recent call out from Michael ‘Venom’ Page.
Kamaru Usman picks Leon Edwards in UFC 304 main event
Offering his prediction for this weekend’s title fight between Edwards and Muhammad, Usman – who is the last fighter to beat the Birmingham native during their first pairing back in 2015, picked him to retain his crown in Manchester.
“Leon (Edwards) is starting to kinda settle in to that seat,” Kamaru Usman said on his podcast. “He shouldn’t be, because I ain’t going nowhere yet. I think he believes that he’s the champion here. Leon is working on staying there. So, I’m gonna stay with Leon for this one. I think Leon might be able to pull this one out.”
Sharing the stage at yesterday’s pre-fight press conference, Edwards and Muhammad were held apart by security and UFC officials after an almost coming together, with the champion lunging at the challenge in a bid to psych him out – ultimately to no avail.
Who wins this weekend at UFC 304: Leon Edwards or Belal Muhammad?