UFC Lightweight star Islam Makhachev has spoken up on the recent upset of Kamaru Usman at the hands of Leon Edwards, and the Russian opines that Usman has a cent per cent chance of defeating Edwards in their trilogy fight.
Edwards was lucky… Usman beat him all five rounds: Islam Makhachev
The main event of UFC 278 on 20th August saw one of the biggest shockers in the history of MMA as Edwards head kicked Kamaru Usman to clinch the 170-pound title. Despite being dominated throughout most of the fight, ‘Rocky’ was able to execute the winning move with less than a minute remaining in the final round.
There have been mixed reactions to the stoppage. While many praised Edwards, many believe that the British Jamaican had been lucky against ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ and former UFC fighter Chael Sonnen even accused Edwards of cheating in the fight.
Islam Makhachev, who is set to face Charles Oliveira in the main event of UFC 280 for the Lightweight belt, also opines that lady luck favoured Edwards against Usman and speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN MMA, he claimed that their upcoming trilogy will, without a doubt, see Usman regaining his title.
“Edwards was lucky because (Usman) beat him all five rounds, almost,” said Makhachev, “First round, he (Edwards) take him down, take his back, but other rounds he (Usman) beat him very easy — take him down many times and smash him there. When they gonna fight again, rematch, 100% I think Kamaru’s gonna beat him. Same problem, Edwards has same problem; always his wrestling.” [H/T MMANews.com]
All things considered, Makhachev himself has a chance to cause another huge upset when he faces Oliveira for the vacant 155-pound belt. ‘Do Bronx’, who reigned as the lightweight champion from May 2021 to May 2022, lost his title at the scale after missing weight before facing Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
The Brazilian, however, submitted Gaethje and will return to the Octagon against Makhachev at UFC 280 on 22nd October. Aside from many MMA fans, Oliveira is already seeing himself regaining champion status as back in July, he addressed the Makhachev fight as “another title defense”.
Purchase the UFC merch here.
Click to Predict here.
SHARE
