After a grueling back and forth, UFC 286‘s main event came to an end with hometown boy Leon Edwards securing a decisive win over ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman. The 31-year-old is now 2-1 against Kamaru, with their very first bout dating back to 2015. While Kamaru won their very first scrap, ‘Rocky’ gained victory in the second bout via a devastating head kick to attain his first UFC gold.
London’s O2 Arena was a sight to behold last night. Fans were on their feet for several fights in the stacked card. The promotion delivered its most recent offering and the Brits showed up with their infamous energy. The main event consisted of all the things fans would expect in a Hollywood movie, right from a groin shot to an illegal fence grab to Herb Dean deducting a point from the defending champion. The headlining fight has drawn all sorts of reactions from the fans.
LONDON ERUPTS AS LEON EDWARDS RETAINS THE WELTERWEIGHT TITLE 😱 #UFC286 pic.twitter.com/vzjvkLGNJZ
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 19, 2023
Both the fighters started off on the feet, with Kamaru controlling the center of the Octagon for most of the first round. However, the course of the fight changed when Usman faced certain hurdles during the following rounds. He was not only at the receiving end of a “nut shot”. Not only that but Leon was also caught hooking his fingers in the Nigerian’s glove at one point.
In another instance, Usman was forced to pull himself back from a dominating position when the ref caught Edwards clearly grabbing the fence for an advantage. Despite the point deduction, Leon managed to write the judges’ scorecards in his favor as he went on to secure a decisive victory over Usman in the rubber match. The Birmingham resident gets to take his belt home one more time.
Where does Kamaru Usman go from here?
UFC 286 marks the 35-year-old’s second straight loss, with the first one occurring to Leon at UFC 278. Even though Kamaru is known for his bouncing-back ability, losing to the same man twice must eat him up inside. It is noteworthy that this was the third time the duo has shared the Octagon together. Thus, a fourth fight doesn’t seem to be happening any time soon, at least not in the near future.
While Kamaru has twice defeated the likes of Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal, fans wouldn’t mind seeing either of them face the former champion once again. However, per president Dana White, Colby is next in line to face the welterweight champion.
The match-making at UFC HQ never happens before the Tuesday following a Pay-per-view event. However, the former champ needs to heal first and take some time off with his family. If Dana and the team decide to mix things up, fans might get lucky to see Khamzat Chimaev test himself against Kamaru next, or even a fourth bout with Colby, if ‘Chaos’ were to win against Leon.
Do you think Kamaru Usman will immediately bounce back after his second straight loss? or should he take some time off to reflect and best decide his next move? Whatever it is that the former P4P king decides to do next, Retirement isn’t one of them, yet.
