Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards feels like his UFC 278 performance that earned him the title was one of his ‘worst performances.’
Edwards took on then-champion Kamaru Usman in the UFC 278 main event. He won the first round on all three judges’ scorecards, but Usman clearly took the next three stanzas. Heading into the final frame, Usman was comfortably up on the scorecards. That all changed with a minute remaining in the fight.
Edwards threw a decoy punch and followed with a head kick that landed flush on Usman’s jaw. Usman went limp and crashed to the canvas. Edwards scored a walk-off knockout. He was happy with the result but not with how he performed overall.
“Going into it I knew it was going to be a tough fight. I said it all week. He’s good, but I believed that I was the better man, even though that was one of my worst performances,” Edward said during the event’s post-fight press conference. “It is what it is. I got a clean finish.”
Kamaru Usman releases short statement after UFC 278 knockout loss: ‘Champs f**k up sometimes’
Edwards expects to have to face Usman a third time, whether it be in his next outing or sometime later. UFC president Dana White said, “How do you not do a rematch,” earlier in the press conference.
“I knew going into it that more than likely we were going to have a rematch down the line. Whether it’s next or down the line, we’re going to have a rematch,” Edwards said. “Even on my worst night, I beat the pound-for-pound.”
“That was the best that he had to offer. That was the worst I had to offer, and I still got the finish,” Edwards went on to say. “That was his best performance. That was the best he had to offer, and that was the worst I had to offer, so if we do have a rematch it’s going to be a total different story.”
Leon Edwards says UFC 278 was ‘one of his worst performances’
