In what is probably – no, definitely the best head kick knockout and stunning moment in UFC history, Leon Edwards shocked the world by putting welterweight champ Kamaru Usman to sleep after getting dominated for nearly the entire fight.
Edwards won the first round of the welterweight rematch seven years in the making. However, after becoming the first UFC fighter to take Kamaru Usman down and take his back, Usman thoroughly dominated Edwards for the next 19 minutes, setting a personal record for takedowns in a fight.
Then, with less than a minute left, as Daniel Cormier and everyone watching was proclaiming Usman the greatest fighter in the UFC and putting the final touches on the obituary for Edwards’ career, the unbelievable happened.
The reaction of Joe Rogan pretty much says it all.
Usman was (and likely still will be) considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport going into his rematch with Edwards. Usman was dominating the fight and cruising towards a sixth title defense before Edwards’ miraculous kick. The first time the pair faced off was in 2015, a contest that saw Usman – a lifelong wrestler – take Edwards to the ground at will. In the intervening seven years, Edwards refined his ground game to prevent such an occurrence. In the first round, it appeared that hard work paid off as he took Usman down and got his back.
Usman did not take kindly to getting put on his back, however. He retaliated by taking Edwards down and pummeling him in the stand-up until that fateful moment in the final round. Usman moved his head off the centerline to dodge a feinted jab from Edwards and placed his jaw directly in the path of the best-executed head kick you’re ever going to see.
The reactions from UFC commentators and fighters flowed in after the fight.
Talks of a rematch are already in the works. In the post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White said that he would like the fight to take place in England (Edwards fights out of Birmingham, England), possibly at Wembley Stadium.
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