Prior to UFC 286, Leon Edwards has claimed that Kamaru Usman is on his way out of the UFC, and he wants to help to open that door.
At UFC 278, Edwards surprised everyone when he knocked Usman out in the fifth round of their championship fight. Down on all three judges’ scorecards, he delivered the head kick that would knock the champion out and level their rivalry at one win each.
Immediately after the fight, the former champion implied that the pressures of being a champion were becoming too much. But, at the UFC 286 media day, ‘Rocky’ swatted away his comments.
He said: “I think if you get knocked out like that, you have to find something to clutch onto.
“He needs to build his confidence back up because before going into it, he thought he could never be taken down, be hurt, or knocked out – so I think he has to find something to clutch onto.
“He was winning the fight, but who cares? It goes down as you getting out-cold headshot and that’s all that matters. When it’s all said and done, a win is a win. Even on my worst day, my worst performance, I’ll still knock you out.”
UFC 286: Leon Edwards’ Full Media Day Conference
The 31-year-old went on to say his KO victory over Usman will have a mental effect going into the trilogy. Despite dominating the previous three rounds, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ suffered a knockout defeat for the first time in his career.
When asked if he expects a similar strategy from his opponent, Edward said: “Who knows? That’s the question, right? He’s 36 years old, been in many tough fights.
“He thought he could never be beaten and to be sparked like that, that does have a mental thing on you. I know like he pretends he doesn’t care and he’s happy he got knocked out because the pressure of being a champion was too hard. ‘I’m happy I got knocked out,’ but for me, that doesn’t make sense.
“So we’ll see on Saturday night if he makes a difference. But, you best believe I’ll be trying to knock him out again.”
As well as having a keen interest in fashion, Usman also recently starred in the Black Panther sequel and has flirted with the idea of a potential boxing match with ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Edwards believes the 35-year-old is “on his way out” of the UFC and he wants to help open that door.
He said: “Our mentality is in two different places. I feel like he’s on his way out and I’m gonna open the door for him and give him another path to follow his fashion dreams and follow wherever he wants to go.”
What do make of the comments from Leon Edwards ahead of UFC 286? Let us know in the comments!
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
