UFC 278 might have just shocked the MMA world as Kamaru Usman was defeated by Leon Edwards for welterweight title.
Leon Edwards admits doubts started to creep in at UFC 278 against Kamaru Usman, but added that his trainers helped keep him fighting to get his comeback knockout.
Last Saturday, Edwards won the welterweight championship with a stunning fifth-round knockout of Usman in the main event of UFC 278. Behind the scorecards, with less than one minute left in the bout, Edwards unleashed a left head kick that knocked Usman out. Cold. But as good as the comeback was, “Rocky” believes the elevation gain in Salt Lake City may have prevented an even better performance.
Why is everyone exhausted, I wondered in the back of my mind. Because I’ve been here for two weeks and had been sleeping at a height at home, I was thinking as I was looking at it that I wasn’t going to be fatigued, but I probably would. When asked if he felt warmed up before on The MMA Hour, Edwards responded, “I don’t feel it. So I was watching it backstage and thought to myself, “Damn, why is everyone tired? ” as I warmed up. After the first lap when we first arrived there, I can Why? My body just shut down; don’t explain. Simply put, it was an odd sensation.
“My 10 fights to get to this point to challenge for the championship, I’ve never looked like that in a fight. Even though I was fighting, I was looking ahead like, ‘Man, what the hell is going on? Just keep pushing. I know he’s smart and the body feels it, but keep working and stay focused. It’s never over until it’s over.’ I hung in there and got a clean KO. …
“If my body had reacted the way it did in the first round, the fight would have been completely different. The first lap I felt normal. Then my body kind of shut down on me. If I felt like I did in the first round, it would be a completely different match.”
UFC 278: Kamaru Usman Vs Leon Edwards
Edwards was far from the only person to feel the effects of the promotion at UFC 278. Many of the fighters competing at the event looked visibly exhausted at the start of their bouts, most notably in the middleweight main event between Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold. in which Rockhold repeatedly placed his hands on his knees during the fight. While Edwards’ issues didn’t show as clearly, the commentary team opined during the fight that “Rocky” looked mentally defeated before scripting a comeback. Even Edwards admits he was beginning to think it might just be the latest in a career full of setbacks.
“I was definitely starting to worry — 100 percent,” Edwards said. “That moment was so big for me, and it’s just my luck that it happened. I was like, ‘Man, this can’t happen, it can turn out like this.’ I’ve been saying that all week, I feel like this it’s my moment. God brought me to this point to make this happen. That’s what kept playing in my head, there’s no way God brought me here to make a decision and end up like this. I had to stay focused and listen to my team. Great motivation. They knew how to push my buttons and kept me there and finished.”
The turns from Edwards’ trainers have already become legendary, spurring their fighter on his incredible comeback and telling Edwards to “stop feeling sorry for yourself” and “get that s*** out of the fire.” And it turned out to be just what Edwards needed at that moment.
“It’s been like that before, but not as intense,” Edwards said. “It was already like that in training and other things. … I wasn’t sorry. I felt – it’s hard to explain. And I wasn’t sorry, I thought, ‘There’s no way it’s going to happen like this.’ I think he could tell from my face, from what he said. ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself. Keep trying mate. You more than deserve to be here. And You can beat this guy. You can do it, so just go out there and do it.’ So I did. …
Interview with MMA Hours
“It was one of my worst performances in my professional life. It’s hard to put into words how you feel mentally, to put on my worst performance in the biggest moment of my life. It’s unbearable. Let’s go. how to play in this manner. It was challenging, but that’s just how it is. Even though that was Usman’s best effort and mine worst, he still wasn’t able to defeat me. He and I met on the worst day possible.
However it happened, Edwards is now the undisputed welterweight champion, and for someone who faced so much adversity and so many setbacks before achieving his dream, “Rocky” says he’s still getting there.
