Kamaru Usman was featured in “Anatomy of a Fighter,” which takes a closer look at the “before and after” of his UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) main event against Leon Edwards last weekend in Salt Lake City. Unfortunately for “The Nigerian Nightmare,” a fifth-round “Hail Mary” from “Rocky” flipped the script and sent Usman into the loss column.
Edwards is now undisputed UFC welterweight champion.
“Leon’s a tough dude,” Usman said after the fight. “The thing, the reason he’s a tough guy is because even when I break his spirit, break his will, the next round he always starts with the heat. It’s almost like he replenishes, he doesn’t stay on [empty]. He’ll come back, even though I remind him very quickly to go back down, he always comes back with it. That’s very fucking dangerous when guys fight like that. Good job ‘Rocky,’ see you soon.”
How soon? That depends on how long each fighter needs to recover.
UFC President Dana White is expected to greenlight an immediate rematch and early reports have the promotion headed to Edwards’ backyard of London; however, nothing is official at this time. In the meantime, the division will keep on rolling with top contender Khamzat Chimaev battling veteran bruiser Nate Diaz at UFC 279 in September.