Leon Edwards still feels there is more to prove in the rematch with Kamaru Usman.
UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards is still pushing himself as if he didn’t have the belt. He is driven just as much in defending his belt as he was all those years searching for his first UFC title. Edwards became the champion in a stunning come-from-behind victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 last year. After seemingly losing the bout on the scorecards, Edwards landed a head kick that put out the former champion in the last minute of the fight. Now, these two are set to face each other again and Edwards thinks the ball is in his court.
This rematch will be in Edwards’ backyard in London, England. The first bout was in Salt Lake City, Utah at a higher altitude than most are used to. Edwards is putting a lot of the hometown value on this fight and knows that he can repeat the win and remain champion.
Leon Edwards feels that he has the advantage over Kamaru Usman going into the rematch
Before Edwards’ win, Usman had successfully defended his belt five times. In fact, the loss to Edwards was the first for Usman in almost ten years. Edwards feels that this fact and the fact that he handed Usman his first KO ever give him a leg up. He spoke about this on BT Sports YouTube.
“Right now he’s 35, 36 years old coming off a knockout and fighting the same guy that just knocked him out so let’s see how our comes back and how he reacts,” he said. “I just can’t see how he got goes out there and defeats me.”
Despite holding the belt, the champ is coming into the rematch as an underdog. He claims to like the doubt being placed upon him and feels that he has something to prove. He plans on proving this and showing the world that he is the rightful champ.
“They’re still doubting me, you know so I feel like I still got to go out there and prove and I feel I perform best when I got something to prove,” he said. “I like that people are saying I can’t do it, you know what I mean? Like I said I got a long way to go, a lot to prove to myself, to the world.”
This trilogy bout between Edwards and Usman will settle the score for good. The fight takes place as the main event of UFC 286, live from the O2 Arena in London, England on March 18.
