Kamaru Usman mores than happy to offer Leon Edwards credit for the head kick heard worldwide, which provided England just its second-ever UFC champion. When he hears the kind of boasts coming from his competitor ahead of their UFC 286 trilogy match, like Edwards promising to “open the door” for Usman’s retirement, he can’t assist however question if “Rocky” is ignoring the truths of how those other 39 in-cage minutes went that the 2 shared.
” Oh, he’s going to open a door for me, since I’m the king. He’s going to unlock for me to stroll through and I’m going to inform him, ‘Alright, you can be available in now,'” Usman stated at UFC 286 media day. “No, the amusing feature of that is, I practically seem like he’s forgetting what occurred [for] 24 minutes in the last battle. Do not you men feel that?
” Yeah, obviously, it was a stunning strategy and you landed it, which I am a fan of. I resemble, ‘Damn, that was gorgeous.’ Offer him props for it. You’re forgetting what occurred. What did you show in those 2 battles that leads you to think you are a much better combined martial arts than me? I am on my escape. I do not wish to get typed the face permanently. That is really, extremely real. I’m not attempting to do this for another 10 years, never. Because sense, yeah, I am on my escape. I’ll leave when I’m excellent, well, and prepared. Up until then, like The Wolf of Wall Street, you understand what he stated– I’m not going no place.”
Usman, 35, looks for to regain the UFC welterweight title on Saturday when he deals with Edwards in a rubber match in the primary occasion of UFC 286, which happens at London’s O2 Arena. The 2 competitors have actually battled two times previously, with Usman winning a consentaneous choice in December 2015 when they were both up-and-comers, followed by Edwards managing among the most stunning resurgences in mixed martial arts history in August 2022 with a fifth-round head kick knockout at UFC 278 that ended Usman’s four-year reign atop the department.
Regardless of his latest loss, Usman stays a heavy wagering preferred to recover his belt at UFC286 And when requested the huge modifications he’s made to counter the obstacle Edwards provides, Usman mentioned an old maxim of not repairing what isn’t broken.
” Had I simply kept my damn hands up, are we having this discussion? We’re not,” Usman stated. “So I believe it refers simply remedying those little errors.
” I imply, I combated Colby Covington and I combated Leon Edwards. You men all saw the battles. I battled Colby two times and I battled Leon two times. You people all saw the battles. Who do you believe is much better? Leon’s hard, I provide him that. And he had the ability to land that lovely kick, I’ll provide him that. There’s absolutely nothing that– as much as he’s constructing himself up with the brand-new self-confidence or whatnot, at the end of the day it’s simply going to be you and me locked in there. And you and I have been secured there for 2 various battles now, and what have you revealed me or revealed yourself to think that you are the much better fighter?”
Usman confessed that he fell under a little complacency towards the latter phases of his unbeaten 15 -0 start to his UFC profession, which is the second-best mark in business history.
Today that he’s back in the opposition’s seat, he promised to have actually a restored sense of inspiration that he’s just felt a couple of times in his profession– all of which resulted in explosive outcomes.
” I felt violent entering into 3 battles,” Usman stated. “I felt violent entering into the Sergio Moraes battle since I kept requesting for top-15[opponent] and I felt disrespected that the UFC matchmakers kept providing me men that weren’t in the top15 I felt extremely, really violent and resentful, and I wished to reveal that– and we saw what occurred.
” I battled Colby Covington the very first time, all of us understand how that accumulation was, what he stated, what he ‘d done all around the world. I felt extremely violent and I wished to get violent. Me and Colby, we’re the very best wrestlers perhaps in the business, and we didn’t battle at all, due to the fact that I seemed like I wished to get violent– and we saw how that battle went.
” And I battled Jorge Masvidal the 2nd time, with all that occurred, you men are stopping working to comprehend, we both flew throughout the world and I was the only one who had actually trained for an entirely various man. [Gilbert Burns] captured COVID, and I do not even wish to divulge all the injuries that I was going through prior to that battle. … Didn’t sleep at all, and I combated in the early morning, and I controlled him. And after that after that battle, that’s when you have actually got all the reasons. ‘Oh, it ‘d be various if you offer me a complete camp, and this and that.’ And it disturbed me to where, I felt violent because 2nd battle– and all of us saw what took place. And not to discuss it was an opponent area in Jacksonville. I was booed, didn’t alter anything.
” And in this battle, I’m beginning to get that sensation. Some battles, you wish to be tidy and leave there and not feel anything. This battle, I wish to feel everything.”