Rashad Evans was live at UFC 278 and witnessed his friend, Kamaru Usman, suffer a knockout loss. An experience he called “traumatic.”
Rashad Evans Traumatized By Usman KO Loss
Evans, a close friend of Usman’s, was in attendance for the UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) event this past weekend.
The main event saw Usman put his welterweight crown up for grabs against Leon Edwards. Usman dominated the majority of the fight, but that didn’t matter in the closing minute of the final round.
Edwards was able to connect on a hellacious head kick that rendered Usman unconscious in devastating fashion.
Sitting next to Usman’s family in the crowd at the show, Evans described the ordeal as “traumatic” during his appearance on “Morning Kombat” recently.
“Just being there was unbelievable,” Evans said. “I’m sitting right next to his family and his daughter is right next to me. When that whole thing happens, you just hear this scream. It’s very traumatic.
“For me being like a brother to Kamaru, just watching him go down like that – it just made me real sick because I didn’t think he was going to lose, but sometimes you have – like when your friend, your family is fighting, you have a feeling, like an uneasy feeling, and I had an uneasy feeling that I couldn’t shake.
“Whenever that kick happened it was like those worst feelings, those worst things, those worst thoughts, realized in an instant. It was devastating.”
HOLY S**T!!!! @LEON_EDWARDSMMA IS THE WW CHAMPION OF THE WORLD!!! #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/Ms9rwG1Ota
— UFC (@ufc) August 21, 2022
Usman was one of the most dominant champion of his generation. He’ll likely receive an immediate rematch against Edwards once he’s ready to go again.
As for Edwards, he did note prior to the fight that, should he win, he’d grant Usman an immediate rematch for the title. It’s likely both men wait to fight each other in their next bouts.
This is Usman’s second career loss and his first in 16 fights.
It will be interesting to see who soon the UFC decides to wait and book the trilogy bout between the pair.
