A little over a week separates Leon Edwards from the biggest fight of his career.
It was just last August when the Birmingham man (by way of Jamaica, of course) scored a sensational come-from-behind victory against Kamaru Usman to seize the UFC welterweight crown, and hand Usman his first loss in nearly a decade. And that manner of how he did it has only added to the intrigue ahead of what will be the third chapter in their rivalry.
Edwards, so impressive in the first round, looked sluggish in the rounds which followed as Usman opened up a sizeable lead on the scorecards authored, as usual, but his canny boxing game backed up with a constant threat of a takedown. But after some Rocky-style advice from his corner at the end of the fourth, Edwards went for broke in the fifth — and that’s when he landed the single biggest high kick of his, or most other fighters’, career.
Bang. Headshot. Dead.
You can relive the five-round epic in the video below. Edwards vs. Usman III headlines the UFC’s return to London on March 18. The co-main will be a lightweight tussle between top-ranked Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev, while Gunnar Nelson will also make his return to the UFC cage in a bout against fellow veteran Bryan Barbarena.
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