Usman, Edwards Go for Broke in UFC Welterweight Title Fight

Pound-for-pound king and current welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman (20-1) will tomorrow night take on Leon “Rocky” Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) in the welterweight title.

This shot for Edwards comes after he’s gone 9-0, 1 NC in his last 10 fights. To be fair, the one No Contest was a fight that he was dominating against Belal Muhammad. His last fight came at UFC 263 where he put on a clinic against Nate Diaz. Granted, he did get hurt badly in the final minute of the fight.

The last man to defeat Edwards is the man that he’s meeting tomorrow night. Usman used his wrestling to stifle Edwards in their first fight. That win was one of many that led Usman to the UFC welterweight title.

Usman has been perfect inside the octagon and he’s looking for his sixth title defense tomorrow night. The last time we saw the champ was at UFC 268 when he had a hard-fought win over Colby Covington in their rematch.

Three of the top contenders in the welterweight division are Leon Edwards, Colby Covington, and Jorge Masivdal. If Usman wins tomorrow night, he will be 6-0 against those three men. Usman is on his second lap in the welterweight division.

That’s how good he’s been. He continues to look better and better and that’s why he’s ranked atop the pound-for-pound list in the UFC. However, if there’s one man that can give him trouble given the overall skillset, you have to look at Edwards.

Edwards has really tightened his game in terms of his grappling defense. He’s extremely well-rounded on the feet and he’s dangerous everywhere. He has good kicks, rangey shots, and good elbows. While he doesn’t have the power of the champion, he’s still very dangerous.

The champion has a few advantages in this one. Power is definitely in the corner of The Nigerian Nightmare. Wrestling and championship experience also weight heavy here. Usman has been there and done that multiple times.

Usman and Edwards are both extremely well-rounded martial artists that prepare for each fight with fresh strategies. This typically results in fights that go to decision, which has transpired across 20 of their combined 29 UFC appearances.