"We've never seen Kamaru Usman coming back with those skeletons in his closet" - Michael Bisping states why beating Leon Edwards in the rematch might be tough for 'The Nigerian Nightmare'
Leon Edwards shocked the mixed martial arts world when he knocked out Kamaru Usman in the main event of UFC 278. The final-round head kick emphatically secured Edwards' maiden championship and ended Usman's dominance in the welterweight division.
Due to Usman's legacy at welterweight and the shocking manner of his loss, he is expected to be the newly crowned champion's first challenger in a potential pay-per-view headliner in London.
England's only other UFC champion in history, Michael Bisping, weighed in on the potential rematch on his YouTube channel. 'The Count' spoke about Usman being in uncharted territory, having never tasted defeat in the UFC prior to his loss to Edwards.
Bisping wondered if 'The Nigerian Nightmare' would be able to recover from the knockout loss:
"It's going to be a tough fight for Leon. And it's going to be a tough fight for Kamaru. And we've never seen Kamaru coming back with those skeletons in his closet from getting knocked out. It does change some people, not everybody. Some people are able to say, 'You know what? That happened then, tonight is a different night.' But some people carry that into them, some people have fear, some people let it make them freeze, some people can't handle the pressure after getting knocked out like that."
However, Bisping also credited Kamaru Usman and stated that the former champion may well hold his own:
"So we never know, there's questions on the Usman side. If I'm honest, I think he'll be okay. I was okay. Usman was a great champion, he was pound-for-pound number one for a while. So I think he's more than capable of being able to shut off those demons and fight to the best of his ability. That doesn't mean he wins the fight. It's going to be a great fight."
Catch Michael Bisping's full comments on his YouTube channel:
Kevin Holland takes a shot at Kamaru Usman's deleted scene in Black Panther sequel
UFC welterweight Kevin Holland took a dig at Kamaru Usman's loss to Leon Edwards and claimed that the defeat forced some of his scenes from the 'Black Panther' sequel to be cut.
Holland spoke to the press before UFC 281 and made reference to the mental block that Kamaru Usman faces. 'Trailblazer' also backed Leon Edwards to defend his title against the former champion in a potential rematch:
"He actually had a bigger role in Wakanda, but I heard they took it out because his role was him head kicking somebody, and then he got head kicked [at UFC 278]. So, [it was] just, kind of like one of those things where they didn't want to f*****g do that to him and mess with his head. Yeah, I think Leon gets it done again."
Catch Kevin Holland's full comments below: