Usman looks for sixth successful defence

Kamaru Usman will look for a sixth successful defence of his welterweight world championship when he faces Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 278, set for the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on the morning of Sunday 21 August 2022.

Nigerian-born Usman (20-1, 9 KO) won the belt by defeating Tyron Woodley in a title fight in March 2019 and has been untouchable since then, even becoming the No 1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in UFC.

His latest defence was against arch rival Colby Covington, defeating ‘Chaos’ by unanimous decision in November 2021 for a 19th successive MMA win.

The 35-year-old ‘Nigerian Nightmare’, who has beaten Edwards before by claiming a unanimous decision win back in December 2015, has generally been respectful toward his opponent but did throw in a barb by playfully promising a wrestling match and mocking his counterpart’s history with common foe Jorge Masvidal.

“Listen, I like you,” Usman said. “You my man. I’ve done a lot for you. That man [Masvidal] went back there in London, he put his hands on you, and you guys didn’t do nothing, so I had to handle it for you – that’s why I had to knock his head to the moon. I got him for you, so I like you. Thank me.”

Usman added, “Of course I fell in love with my striking – that’s why I have more knockouts in championship fights than he has in the UFC his entire career. And yes, I fell in love with my striking, but guess what, you fell in love with your grappling. So, August 20, we going to wrestle.”

Edwards (19-3, 6 KO) earned this title shot with a unanimous decision win over Nate Diaz at UFC 263 in June last year, as well as a run of 10 undefeated fights (nine wins, plus one No Contest against Belal Muhammad when an accidental eye poke ended the match early).

The 30-year-old Jamaican-born British fighter is expecting a tough clash against Usman, but believes he can make it 1-1 in their personal record.

“I don’t think it’s going to be easy,” Edwards explained. “I want to take it away from him, and I plan to do that. I’m not going in there looking for an easy fight. I’m going in there to beat the champion and become the champion.

“He was the last guy to beat me. Everyone claims he’s pound-for-pound [the best fighter]. They say he can’t be beaten. It’s the perfect time for it to happen, and I can’t wait.”

The rest of the main card will feature Paulo Costa v Luke Rockhold in a middleweight co-main event; a bantamweight battle between Jose Aldo and Merab Dvalishvili; Marcin Tybura v Alexander Romanov in the heavyweight division; and a light heavyweight opener between Tyson Pedro and Harry Hunsucker.

UFC 278 – Main card

- Main event: Welterweight championship: Kamaru Usman v Leon Edwards
- Middleweight: Paulo Costa v Luke Rockhold
- Bantamweight: Jose Aldo v Merab Dvalishvili
- Heavyweight: Marcin Tybura v Alexander Romanov
- Light heavyweight: Tyson Pedro v Harry Hunsucker