The welterweight championship will be on the line as Kamaru Usman makes his sixth title defense when he takes on Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 278
at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Saturday (ESPN+ PPV at 10 p.m. ET, prelims on ABC/ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, early prelims on ESPN/ESPN+ at 6 p.m..).
In 2015, when the two fighters met for the first time inside the Octagon, Usman (20-1), ESPN's No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, defeated Edwards via unanimous decision.
Since then, Edwards (19-3, 1 NC) has not lost a fight in his career. The last time he fought was back in June 2021 when he beat Nate Diaz in a close fight.
The ESPN MMA analyst and former UFC fighter Megan Anderson breaks down the title fight between the favorite and the underdog.
Edwards had trouble opening up his striking because Usman negated the space he needed. With his open-mat takedowns and control on the ground, he won the unanimous decision.
When looking for big power punches against Edwards, Usman must be cautious. Edwards has a good counterstrike and a good ability to enter the pocket and land his shots.
When Edwards is leaving the pocket, his opponents generally try to throw combinations back at him. Edwards excels at avoiding those combos and countering them
In terms of wrestling and power, Usman has the upper hand, but this is his most evenly matched fight in a long time.
It's hard to pick against Usman based on his recent performance, but I think Edwards can pull off the upset.