With the third fight in the trilogy expected to be booked for UFC 286 in London, England, UFC welterweight contender Gilbert Burns sees Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman trilogy fight as a “50/50” with a slight edge to Edwards.
2022 was the year of fifth-round underdog comebacks, ranging from Jiri Prochazka’s rear-naked-choke of Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Glover Teixeira to becoming the undisputed UFC light heavyweight champion despite having to vacate the title in December due to shoulder injury. Alex Pereira became Israel Adesanya’s boogey man for the third time in combat sports history by knocking the then reigning champion into the shadow realm despite Pereira already beating Adesanya twice in kickboxing via decision and KO and, of course Edwards vs Usman.
With all that in mind the clear best moment unanimously agreed upon throughout the community is Edwards knocking out the most dominant champions we’ve had in a long time as Usman. Despite Edward’s having an incredible first round by becoming the first fighter to takedown Usman continued to take his back and threaten rear naked chokes Usman did manage to survive to the bell continuing the put a tired Edwards through the wringer till round five.
Gilbert Burns Weighs in on Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman Rematch
Burns spoke to the media backstage at UFC 282, and gave his thoughts on the matchup.
“That’s a 50/50 fight. I think, to be honest, I look at that fight from an angle that I don’t think a lot of people saw it (from),” Burns said. “That fight was in Salt Lake City, with the altitude. Kamaru trains in Denver on the altitude. Leon is not at (high) altitude, where Leon trains in London. And Leon did very good in the first round, I was impressed with the takedown, mount, taking the back. But I think he faded a little bit second, third round.
“Now, going into the second fight, there’s no altitude in London. That’s frickin’ Leon’s house, you know? Sh*t, I think it’s a 50/50 fight. I think it’s gonna be super, super close. If I gotta give the advantage, it’s gonna be a little bit for Leon, because there’s no altitude this time, great camp, at home,” Burns continued. “He even said he didn’t feel good and he did what he did the way he did. I think it’s gonna be a 50/50 (but) maybe a little bit more to Leon Edwards. He’s in good momentum right now, he’s young, he’s hungry.”
Quotes Via MMA News
Providing all negations go according to plan Edwards will defend his belt against Usman at the O2 Arena nearly three years after his fight was cancelled against former champ Tyrone Woodley due to Covid-19.
Do you agree with Gilbert Burns take on the fight? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
