"That's a mistake that he does not need to lead himself down to" - 'Big' John McCarthy warns Kamaru Usman against the one gameplan that will play in Leon Edwards' favor
Kamaru Usman is defending the UFC welterweight title at UFC 278 against a very tough challenger in Leon Edwards. While Edwards doesn't have a lot of flashy wins or knockout power, he's an extremely technical fighter on a nine-fight win streak.
That run started after Usman beat him back in December 2015, and according to 'Big' John McCarthy, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' should use the same blueprint to beat Edwards again. In a new episode of Weighing In, McCarthy said:
"Leon Edwards has got more skills. He may not be the wrestler that Colby is but he's definitely a better striker and now his wrestling has come up and we're going to see how much it has against Usman. Because if Usman decides to be the striker in this fight, he's making a mistake."
"That's a mistake he does not need to lead himself down to, he needs to be the complete mixed martial artist. Use your wrestling, you know how, you've beat him before, go back to that blueprint because it worked the first time."
Kamaru Usman's wrestling skills are what got him to the belt, but in recent fights against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal he surprised everyone by showing off some impressive striking skills. He knocked Masvidal out cold in their second fight, and largely shut down Covington when they fought again in November 2021.
However, Edwards' strength is in his boxing, so it may indeed be time for Kamaru Usman to dust off his powerful ground game rather than try to go toe-to-toe with 'Rocky.'
Watch John McCarthy discuss Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman below:
Dana White calls Kamaru Usman's plan to move up to light heavyweight a "bad idea"
Leading up to UFC 278, Kamaru Usman made headlines by saying he was interested in moving up from 170 pounds to 205 pounds to challenge for the UFC light heavyweight title.
It's unclear as to whether he was being serious or just looking to cause a stir in the MMA community. According to Dana White, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' never brought the idea to him. In a recent interview with The MMA Underground, White said:
“That’s crazy, he’s never said that to me. But I mean, when you look at those guys, you’re looking at Prochazka, Glover, Jan , Magomed ... I mean, these guys are f***ing monsters. Yeah, I think that’s a bad idea. The guys at middleweight are big."
Typically when a champion wants to earn a second belt they'll move down or up one weight class. Kamaru Usman is already big for welterweight, and he refuses to challenge fellow African champion Israel Adesanya at middleweight.
That leaves nothing but less conventional options like light heavyweight. As Dana White suggested, challenging for the light heavyweight title is probably not the best idea.