Kamaru Usman wants an immediate rematch with Leon Edwards in England
According to TMZ Sports, Kamaru Usman wants a quick rematch with Leon Edwards in England for the third fight in their trilogy.
Usman suffered a shocking setback in the main event of UFC 278 on Sunday in Salt Lake City, Utah, and handed Edwards the UFC Welterweight title.
After the first round, The “Nigerian Nightmare” was clearly the better fighter, but when he bent to his right to block a left hand from Edwards, he was hit flush with a left head kick, sending the crowd of over 17,000 spectators at the Vivint arena into a frenzy.
The 35-year-old is already planning how and where to retake his Welterweight title, despite the catastrophic nature of the defeat, which was his first in the UFC after 16 fights.
“I’ve been feening to go to England. I feel like England is my second home now, and England is half Africa. People don’t know that, but it’s half Africa; so it’s time to go over there and entertain my English people, and what better story? You couldn’t write this any better. So, I’m excited to see what’s next, and we will definitely figure something out. What else makes sense? I mean, look at the division,” Usman said to TMZ Sports.
“No, it’s absolutely what’s gonna happen next. I’ve talked to Dana (White), and we’re gonna see. I’ll let him do his job, and we’re gonna see what date makes sense. It’s gonna be top of next year. I was gonna try and squeeze one in this year, but it’ll probably be the top of next year, and I want to go to England.”
The Auchi-born fighter, who had been knocked down for the first time in his UFC career in the opening round, bounced back brilliantly and was ahead 3-1 on all three judges’ scorecards going into the fifth round when he was hit with a hard left head kick that ended the fight with 56 seconds left.
Kamaru Usman commented, “It was a beautiful shot.” A superb shot. I’m referring to the Hail Mary attempt that was made in the final 10 seconds of the Super Bowl. Bravo to Leon.
A trilogy is next, according to UFC president Dana White and Edwards, who was born in Jamaica but now calls Birmingham, England home. White even suggested holding the bout at London’s Wembley Stadium at his formal post-fight press conference in Utah.
A trilogy fight in front of a boisterous audience in England, with Edwards avenging his unanimous decision loss to Usman in their first fight, would be a fitting conclusion to a rivalry that began in December 2015.
