Watch: Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman have an intense and heated exchange at the UFC 286 pre-fight press conference
Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman had a heated exchange at the UFC 286 press conference.
On March 18, Edwards and Usman will meet for a rubber match to determine the UFC welterweight champion. Both fighters have mostly been respectful during the buildup, but the fight week tension is rising. During the pre-fight press conference, a verbal argument broke out between the UFC 286 main event fighters:
“I’ve never lost in the U.K., amateur or pro. I truly drive off the energy of the fans, my family, my friends being here. It’s always pushed me forward to do well and Saturday night will be no different. - Edwards”
“You said first fight, that was the second fight, that wasn’t the first. What’s the excuse for the first fight? What was the excuse for the first fight? - Usman ”
“What’s the excuse for the f*cking head kick you got? - Edwards”
“I dropped my hands. There’s no excuse. Beautiful technique, my hand came down, and you landed it. What was the excuse for the three rounds before that getting your head beat it? Your coach had to beg you. Come on Rocky. Come on Rock. - Usman”
“Getting your head beat it?... Behave yourself. We’ll see. We’ll see. You awake? You good? That boy is concussed. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about. He’s concussed. - Edwards”
Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman have fought each other twice, with each winning once. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ won by unanimous decision in 2015 and lost by a fifth-round head kick knockout in August 2022. The primary difference for the third fight is that ‘Rocky’ is the champion and gets to fight in front of his hometown crowd.
Watch the verbal altercation between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman below:
Kamaru Usman claims Leon Edwards will call him extraordinary after UFC 286
Kamaru Usman was on top of the world before Leon Edwards changed everything at UFC 278. Although Edwards is more confident than ever, Usman believes he will quickly regain the 170-pound throne. During episode three of UFC 286: Embedded, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ had this to say about his upcoming fight:
"I'm not ordinary, I'm extraordinary. And so, March 18, I get to go prove that to myself, I get to prove that to him as well. You know, whether he's sad or whether he's happy that he takes to the belt for at least 6-months, you know, now it's gone. And he's gonna say, 'Damn, that guy was extraordinary.'" [5:03 - 5:18]”
All eyes will be on the UFC 286 main event, but there are other thrilling bouts on March 18. In the co-main event, Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev meet in an action-packed lightweight matchup. The main card also features Gunnar Nelson vs. Bryan Barberena, Jennifer Maia vs. Casey O’Neil, and Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze.