August 17, (THEWILL) – This Saturday in Salt Lake City, Utah, marks the pay-per-view debut of UFC 278 from the Las Vegas-based company, whose the main event of the night will be the welterweight title battle between champion Kamaru Usman and challenger Leon Edwards.
The “Nigerian Nightmare” Usman, is widely regarded as the best fighter in MMA right now on a pound-for-pound basis. He will be attempting his sixth successful defence of the UFC welterweight championship after defeating twice, defeating Gilbert Burns, Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal once since winning the title by decision over Tyron Woodley.
It will be Edwards’ first shot at winning a UFC championship. With nine straight wins, including victory over fighters like Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, Gunnar Nelson, Rafael dos Anjos, and Nate Diaz, whom he defeated by decision this summer, the native of Birmingham earned the right to compete for the title.
This is the second encounter between Usman and Edwards. Usman, triumphed in their first encounter via unanimous decision, but that was back in 2015, which is practically ancient history in a competition as dynamic as mixed martial arts.
Between that first bout and now, men have developed into incredibly better fighters. This implies that even if the prefight odds point to another Usmans’victory, their rematch may be a completely different contest altogether.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
