Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman have intense staredown before UFC title fight

16 March 2023 , 19:39

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Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman have intense staredown before UFC title fight

Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman had an intense first staredown just days out from their UFC welterweight title fight.

Edwards and Usman meet for the third time this Saturday when they clash at The O2 arena on Saturday. The familiar foes first met eight years ago in Florida as Usman won a one-sided decision on the night, but Edwards evened the score last August by knocking out his rival with a just minute left in the fight.

The rivals butted heads at the UFC 286 press conference on Thursday afternoon as Edwards was cheered on by his home crowd, who also drowned out the London arena with boos for Usman. 'Rocky' was encouraged by the support as he said: "London, let's go! I'm honoured to be fighting here. This is my fourth time fighting at The O2 arena and now I'm back here as a champion, and still.

"It means the world to me, the road I had to travel to get here was hard. Everybody wrote me off and nobody gave me a chance, it was tough, but that built my character. I've worked so hard to get here and on Saturday night I'm going to make all the fans proud for sure."

Usman dominated the large majority of both of his past two fights against Edwards, but the former champion gave his rival credit for winning their rematch in spectacular fashion. "There's no such thing as a mistake, it was a learning experience and oversight by myself. We correct that and get back on the horse to do what greatness requires."

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'The Nigerian Nightmare' struggled to even get his answers across as London fans cheered "headshot, dead", the phrase said by Edwards just moments after he knocked out Usman. The Nigerian-American proceeded to mock his Brummie rival: "The fans care about London bruv, they care about London. They don't give a s*** about you, they can understand me with my accent more than they can understand you!"

Edwards thinks he will put on a better showing on Saturday than his rematch against Usman as the high altitude in Salt Lake City, where the second fight took place. was detrimental to his cardiovascular output. Usman fired back by asking Edwards what his excuse was for being defeated in their first fight, with the Brit replying: "What's your excuse for the f****ng head kick?"

Harry Davies