Kamaru Usman thinks it’s clear Leon Edwards is not the better MMA fighter.
Usman and Edwards are set to have their trilogy match in the main event of UFC 286 on Saturday in London, England. Back in August, Edwards became the new champ with a fifth-round head kick KO but even though Usman lost, he says he still is the better fighter.
Kamaru Usman on Leon Edwards
“Yes, you have a ton of tape,” Usman told Morning Kombat. “All these people or all these fighters have all this tape to watch and study and try to defeat you with what they’ve studied. If they’re able to do that, if they have the ability to study your tape and go out there and shut everything and do that, they’re the better fighter. They deserve to be champions anyways. You can’t stop it. If they have the ability to trump what they see on tape, they’re the better fighter anyways.
“Now, the problem is, you can watch as much tape as you want to,” Usman continued. “A lot of people can see me and say, ‘Oh, wow, he has a decent gas tank.’ But until you are locked in that cage with me and you actually feel that, you have no idea. This individual has felt it twice, and he has melted twice. He’s shown me nothing to let me believe he’s a better mixed martial artist than I am — besides one Hail Mary in the fifth round.”
Kamaru Usman did win the first fight and was winning the rematch until Leon Edwards caught him with a head kick. With that, the former champ is confident he will get his hand raised in enemy territory and is excited to once again be the challenger.
“It makes the sport fun for me. The sport wasn’t necessarily as fun with all the noise,” Kamaru Usman said. “I love the position that I ascended to and I appreciate it because I know that’s what comes when you really put in the work like I did over the years. But it wasn’t necessarily as fun as the journey.”
