Edwards (19-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) won the middleweight championship from Kamaru Usman on Saturday with a stunning back head knockout in the fifth round of their fight at Vivint Arena. After starting the fight strong and winning the opening round, Usman (20-2 MMA, 15-1 UFC) picked up the pace and managed to get the three middle rounds on the scorecards. He was doing well in the final frame as well, until with just 56 seconds left in the match, Edwards unleashed the perfect shot that forced the belt to change hands. “In that regard, I knew it was going to be a tough fight,” Edwards told MMA Junkie and other reporters at the UFC 278 post-fight press conference. “I’ve been saying that all week. But I think I was the better man – but even though it was one of my worst performances, so be it, I got a clean finish. … My body just wasn’t reacting the way it was supposed to. I don’t know if it was the altitude or not, but when I was backstage watching the other guys fight on TV, everyone was getting tired and gassy. I was like, “Why is everyone tired?” When I got out there after the first round I felt it. My body just wasn’t responding. “It wasn’t cardio, it was like my body wasn’t reacting. But I stayed focused, my coaches encouraged me and kept reminding me, “You’re still in the game, you’re the best and you’re fighting until the end.” That combination that I drilled with my trainers, that left header and it landed perfectly.” After losing a unanimous decision to Usman at UFC on FOX 17 in December 2015, Edwards said before UFC 278 that he expected to even the score with his opponent to set up a trilogy fight. After scoring a clean knockout, Edwards’ attitude about the situation hasn’t changed. Usman, who came into the fight with the second-longest winning streak in UFC history and five consecutive title defenses, has a strong claim to an immediate trilogy fight. Edwards said he would like this fight to take place in his native England, and since he wasn’t happy with his work at UFC 278, he believes he can give a more complete effort. It’s been a long journey for “Rocky” to reach the top of the mountain and after seeing Usman fall the way he did, he said he’s not going to take his moment of glory for granted. “I knew after that we were most likely going to have a rematch down the line,” Edwards said. “Whether it’s next or the next, we’ll have a rematch. He’s been champion for a long time, they say he’s the best pound for pound all week. He used to say he was the best pound for pound. He believed it, and like I said in the octagon, the belt doesn’t belong to anyone. It doesn’t belong to me or anyone else. No man is meant to hold the belt for that long, and I’ve been saying it all week that I felt like this was my moment. This is how it was meant to be played. All the layoffs, all the COVID, that’s how it was meant to play out.” For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 278.
