Jorge Masvidal thinks Kamaru Usman should have taken more time off before the rematch with Leon Edwards.
At UFC 286 this past weekend UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards proved once again that he is the best fighter at 170 pounds. He defeated Kamaru Usman for the second time in a row to retain his belt. This time the fight went the distance and after a point deduction, Edwards was ruled the winner by majority decision. Now he will move on to face the next man in line. That man has reportedly been set, the UFC wants Colby Covington, but Edwards does not.
One man whose name is often brought up alongside Edwards is Jorge Masvidal. The two have some bad blood and Masvidal wants a shot at Edwards if he can get past Gilbert Burns in April. Masvidal had tuned in to watch Edwards beat Usman and had some thoughts about his former opponent, Usman.
Jorge Masvidal thought Kamaru Usman might have been pulling back at UFC 286
Masvidal was recently a guest on The Joe Rogan MMA Show where he was asked about the title fight between Edwards and Usman. Masvidal gave his genuine reaction and felt Usman may have been affected by his previous knockout.
“A little lackluster, you know, Usman maybe like there were times where I didn’t see him stepping on the gas like he usually does, you know, it might have been because he just took this fight too early,” he said. “I always think that when a fighter gets knocked out and I got this from like the old timers in boxing, you need to really let your brain and your confidence heal and come back, you know, because then you get back in and you get touched and you’re like, Whoa, I might get knocked out and you pull the brakes and you start maybe second guessing yourself. So I think maybe he took it a little bit too early.”
The knockout Usman suffered the last time he fought Edwards at UFC 278 was the first of his professional career in competition. In addition to the KO, Usman was dealing with a hand injury for much of his camp. Even his friend Francis Ngannou revealed after the fight that his training was affected by the injury. There were questions before the fight about whether or not Usman was even able to fight on the desired date. In the end, he showed up and went the entire five rounds.
