The sport of MMA has a new welterweight champion.
Leon Edwards took the title from Camaro Usman after he knocked him down with a well-placed kick, with only seconds remaining on the clock.
– Edwards said, “I landed completely.”
It looked like a comfortable defense of welterweight champ Kamaru Usman at the UFC gala in Salt Lake City. The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ looked to be heading towards its 16th straight win in tonight’s game against Leon Edwards.
But in the final round, with only 56 seconds left, Edwards hit. Or rather kicked. A gentle blow to the left foot made Othman fall to the ground and the fight ended.
“That kick landed perfectly,” Edwards said afterwards.
“It was meant to be”
Britten Edwards has not lost since his last meeting against Usman in 2015 and the newly crowned champion has 20 wins and 3 defeats. Osman, the number one seed (20-2), looked confident for most of the match and the Nigerian looked set to win by unanimous decision.
Then the kick fell.
The eight does not belong to anyone. No man is supposed to hold the belt that long. I’ve been saying all week that this feels like my moment. Edwards said it was meant to be this way.
Swedish fighter Khazam Shemayev competes in the same weight category as Edwards and Usman and is ranked fourth in the world.
