Leon Edwards rallies to KO Kamaru Usman in last minute of 5th round to claim title at UFC 278
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, August 20, 2022, for UFC 278, going down live on pay-per-view from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Headlining the event is a title clash rematch between UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman (20-1) and no. 2 ranked Leon Edwards (19-3).
Co-headlining the card is former UFC & Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold (16-5), who returns to the octagon for the first time in over three years tonight to face former title challenger, no. 6 ranked Paulo Costa (13-2).
Reverting back to our main event; Usman has gone 15-0 since winning The Ultimate Fighter 21 in his UFC debut and needs just one more win to tie Anderson Silva for the longest win streak in UFC history. He also aimed to make the sixth defense of his UFC welterweight championship tonight.
Edwards on the other hand came into the bout having gone undefeated in ten bouts (9-0) 1 NC since losing to Usman back in 2015.
Continue reading to see how this welterweight championship main event encounter went down:
Official Result: Leon Edwards def. Kamaru Usman via KO (head kick) at 4:04 of round five
Usman is the one to take the center of the octagon, as Edwards lands some legs kicks from the outside. Usman initiates a takedown but is unable to secure it. He does end up getting Edwards down for a moment, but the challenger is back up to his feet quickly.
Usman is attempting another takedown along the cage, before Edwards secures double under hooks and trips Usman to the mat, immediately securing mount. It’s not long until he spins and takes the champions back, finishing the round with a body triangle in dominant position.
The champion comes out with a furious pace in the second and takes back what he lost in the first. He lands some heavy punches, as does Edwards, but Usman’s pressure seems to be wearing on him.
Usman secures a double leg takedown to end the second round, evening the score going into the third.
The champion really begins to dominate Edwards in the middle stretch, controlling him the entire time, a good portion of it on the ground. After an incredible start, the chance of becoming the second ever English champion in UFC history seems to be getting dimmer and dimmer.
After a good start to the fourth round by Edwards, who was able to control Usman along the fence for 80-90 seconds at the beginning of the round, he was controlled for the remainer of it.
The NCAA Division II national champion is proving once again his wrestling is too much for Edwards.
It’s 3-1 Usman going into the fifth and final round.
Usman is also looking great to start the fifth, and it appears Edwards is letting this chance slip away, as he’s not throwing much offense. But just as we were thinking that, Edwards lands a thunderous head kick from hell and KO’s the pound-for-pound great on the spot.
WATCH: Leon Edwards knocks out Kamaru Usman COLD with a head kick. Usman was likely on his way to winning a decision. #AndNew #UFC278 pic.twitter.com/XUZN07MiiK
— Shakiel Mahjouri (@Shak_Fu) August 21, 2022
It’s funny, Nate Diaz hurt Edwards in the last minute of their 25-minute main event, and Edwards KO’s Usman to win the title in the final minute of their 25-minute main event.
After being down like that, to finishing the fight in the way he did is just remarkable.
Leon Edwards becomes the first man to take Kamaru Usman down tonight, he became the first man to defeat him in the UFC, he became the first man to knock him out, he stops Usman from tying Anderson Silva’s record, and he becomes just the second English talent to ever win a UFC championship.
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