Kamaru Usman had won 19 straight professional fights before Leon Edwards shocked the world with a head kick knockout late in the fifth round of their title clash at UFC 278 this past August.
For that, Usman doesn’t hesitate to give Edwards his props.
“It’s a beautiful kick … I”m a fan of it,” Usman said during a recent media day appearance.
However, while others — Edwards included — have speculated that Usman might not be the same after suffering his first KO defeat, the man himself points out that he has lost plenty of times in his athletic career. That has him uniquely prepared to rebound in his trilogy bout with Edwards at UFC 286 on Saturday.
“Leon hasn’t wrestled in over 300 wrestling matches like I have,” Usman said. “He hasn’t competed as many times as I have. When you get pinned, I’ve been in the situation where I lost the first wrestling match of the day and now you’re in the consolation bracket and it’s a dogfight to get back up on that podium. I’ve been on that podium a lot of times.
“To that statement [that I won’t be the same], it’s warranted when you’re thinking about ordinary things and ordinary people … That’s when you’re speaking about ordinary people. But Leon Edwards and I both know that I’m not ordinary, I’m extraordinary.”
Prior to the finish, Usman was well on his way to another successful UFC welterweight title defense. The most recent camp was all about making little adjustments. For the most part, things were going pretty well for Usman against Edwards at UFC 278, so there isn’t much to change.
“Well for one, keep your damn hands up so you don’t get kicked in the head. That’s important,” Usman admitted. “If you watch the way that I fight and you’ve seen all of my performances, how much more do I need to change?
“I’ve been blessed with coaches who know how to give me directions to where what I’ve been doing is working. I go so hard in training camp in preparing for these fights to where I have that much of a gap on everybody just because of how much I prepare. This camp was basically correcting little mistakes that I made in the fight. That was the sole purpose of it. Saturday once I go out there and correct those mistakes, how does a loss happen?”
Prior to UFC 278, Usman was atop many pound-for-pound lists and had entered the conversation with Georges St. Pierre as perhaps the sport’s greatest welterweight. This time around, Usman finds a different source of motivation.
“That’s a good question because it [motivation] changes,” he said. “When you start to just defend and defend and defend, it does kind of get lackadaisical, it just gets repetitive. This one immediately I found it on the ride to the hospital after [UFC] 278 … I got presented with an opportunity to be able to fall as a champion and rise again.”
More must-reads: