The war of words has already started on UFC 278 fight week.
Kamaru Usman returns to action for the first time in 2022 this weekend as he looks to defend his belt for the sixth time. He rematches Leon Edwards, a fight seven years in the making. Usman won the first fight at UFC on Fox 17 and looks to repeat.
A dig at ‘Rocky’
During UFC 278 media day, the welterweight champion was asked about Edwards’ striking, and he took a dig at his opponent.
“According to everybody, he’s the biggest, baddest dude, and I think skill-wise he’s very, very, very good,” Usman told the media. “But I mean, you know, when [Jorge] Masvidal was up here, come on we were singing a different tune- he is the most dangerous striker, had never been finished, he’s the slick, he’s nice, which he is a very very good striker. And you know, they were all singing that tune, and we all saw what Masvidal did to [Leon Edwards] out there in London, you know? And it is what it is if that makes him feel better, that’s fine. Whether you’re a striker, whether you’re a wrestler, whether you’re a grappler, it doesn’t matter. At the end of the day, I have one thing that they all don’t have, and that is the ability to go out there and get the win.”
Going Hollywood?
That little jab at Edwards could have been a response to what Edwards said earlier in the week. The British fighter told Ariel Helwani that he felt Usman had gone Hollywood and had allowed fame and fortune to get to his head.
Well, Usman rejected that and explained he has worked his ass off for everything.
“I was in a movie, and everyone says, ‘He Hollywood now,’” Usman said. “When I was in college eating $5 Little Caesars pizza, and I was surviving off of that for two days and eating ramen noodles for a whole week, you know what I did? I dreamt of getting to a point where I didn’t have to do that. To where I could walk into any steakhouse wherever I wanted and tell my mom and dad, ‘You guys want to go there? I got you. Let’s go there. Do you want to fly private? I got you.’
I always dreamt of that and always wanted that. So I put the work in to get to that point. To get to the point where I wanted silk shirts, I always wanted that. I put the work in and I got that. But that doesn’t stop me. I want to be bigger than Dwayne Johnson. I’m not bigger than him, so that means I need more work. So this notion of people who say, ‘You’re Hollywood now. It’s going to his head.’ If he’s thinking that, it’s the biggest misconception and it’ll be a short night for him come Saturday night.”
It’s only Wednesday, and the trash talk has only begun. The UFC 278 press conference and you can bet both subjects will be brought up.
UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards II goes down this Saturday and pay-per-view.
