"Outside of Colby Covington, Leon Edwards is the toughest fight he's had" - Josh Thomson wonders if Kamaru Usman is focusing on UFC 278 amid calls for move to 205 lbs division

Josh Thomson (left) [image courtesy of @THEREALPUNK/Twitter], Kamaru Usman (center), Leon Edwards (right)

Kamaru Usman has been dominating the UFC's welterweight division for a long time. He is 15-0 since joining the promotion over seven years ago. This dominance has led Usman to consider a move to light heavyweight, which Josh Thomson believes should not be his focus leading up to UFC 278.

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'The Nigerian Nightmare' will look to defend his belt for the sixth time against No.2-ranked welterweight Leon Edwards at UFC 278. While the No.1-ranked pound-for-pound fighter has not lost since his second professional fight over nine years ago, Edwards has not lost since fighting Usman nearly seven years ago.

While speaking on his Weighing In podcast with John McCarthy, Josh Thomson believes that Usman may not be fully focused on his UFC 278 opponent:

"Usman right now is at the top of his game, but when you get to the top of your game and you've had so many wins and so much success and you're the champion, it's kind of lonely up there at the top, and you start thinking about other things, like the 205-pound division. He just did another interview talking about 'no, I'm for real, I'm talking about going there'."

Thomson elaborated on his thoughts, adding:

"Outside of Colby Covington, Leon Edwards is the toughest fight he's had since the last time he fought Leon Edwards. I look at everybody else he's beaten - Masvidal, these others guys he's beaten - they're not on the level of Leon Edwards. Only Colby Covington is, and they're way different styles of fights. Way different styles of how you fight those fights... I can't count Usman out, I'm not doing that at all, I'm simply saying 'is he focused on the guy in front of him that he's already beat or is his eyes wandering to that next goal?'"

Although Thomson believes that Usman's focus may be elsewhere, the pound-for-pound king insists that he is still obsessed with competing. Speaking about his future in interviews doesn't necessarily mean that Usman is overlooking Edwards in training.

Watch Josh Thomson's full comments on Weighing In below:

Does Kamaru Usman belong in the GOAT conversation?

Kamaru Usman is undoubtedly amongst the greatest fighters of his generation. UFC President Dana White has said that he believes Usman has surpassed Georges St-Pierre as the welterweight GOAT. White has also stated that a win at UFC 278 will place Usman in the same breath as Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.

"Kamaru Usman is just one fight away from tying Anderson Silva' - Dana White https://t.co/twQieUfDlT

While many fans may disagree due to his fighting style, Usman's resume certainly places him in the upper echelon of mixed martial artists. If he ties Silva's record at UFC 278 and surpasses it in his next fight, his claim at being amongst the GOATs will only get stronger.

What are the chances of Usman tying Anderson Silva this weekend?

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The longer Kamaru Usman's dominance lasts, the higher he will climb in the all-time rankings. While discussions such as the greatest of all-time are subjective in nature, being mentioned amongst the greats shows just how dominant he has been.

Since the inception of the UFC, we’ve seen some top champions and legends of the sport emerge. 🤴

But which iconic fighters would make your Mount Rushmore of MMA? 🤔

Anderson Silva? 🇧🇷
Georges St-Pierre? 🇨🇦
Khabib Nurmagomedov? 🇷🇺
Kamaru Usman? 🇳🇬
Jon Jones? 🇺🇲

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