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Reuters
The record-breaking champion makes his next title defense in the main event of UFC 278 on Saturday night.
Kamal 'Nigerian Nightmare' Usman (20-1) wins welterweight title. Vivint in Salt Lake City, Utah, in his arena featured match, England's Leon He faced Edwards (19-3).
Fort. The Lauderdale, Florida, via Nigeria player is looking to make his sixth successful defense of the crown he won in 2019. Usman, who is considered the top of his four pound fighters in his MMA current pound, has boasted an undefeated record since his joining the UFC in 2015. of his first 15 fights. With his victory over Edwards, he joined legendary former UFC middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva for the longest winning streak in UFC history.
Standing in his way is Edwards of Manchester. This is a rematch of the match originally played in 2015. In his second UFC appearance, Usman made a unanimous decision in a matchup that was deep in the qualifying card. Since then, Edwards has been on his ninth straight win, last time at UFC 263 where Nate easily defeated Diaz, making this the last loss for Edwards.
Won in haste.
"All this pound-for-pound talk I don't see," Edwards said at UFC 278 Media Day. They're good fighters and they're improving."
The second and third billed bouts of the night feature a pair of former UFC champions.
At middleweight, former Northern California champion Luke Rockhold (16-5) will face Brazil's Paulo Costa. A recent outing has been a rough sled for both. Rockhold has been knocked out three times in four fights since losing the title to Michael Bisping in 2016. Costa (13-2) has lost their last two games and hasn't won since 2019.
At bantamweight, former perennial featherweight champion Jose Aldo's 135-pound renaissance continues with his encounter with Merab Dbarishvili. Brazil's Aldo (31-7) is his third straight win, while Georgia's Dbarishvili (14-4) is his seventh.
– Field Level Media
