Leon Edwards knows Kamaru Usman is a great fighter, but he believes his new love of striking will be his undoing.
Usman fought his way into the welterweight division with his dominant wrestling, which earned him a title shot. In fact, he won the belt by controlling Tyron Woodley with wrestling.
Leon Edwards believes Usman’s love of his punch will lead to his loss
However, a couple of fights ago he switched gyms to train with Trevor Wittman and since then he began to rely more on his punches and scored a KO victory over Jorge Masvidal. According to Leon Edwards, this will be the downfall of Usman’s reign in the welterweight division.
“Yes, Usman has improved. His hitting is getting better, you know. I think he’s probably fallen in love with his hands now. Like I said, going out and finishing Masvidal, finishing Colby, finishing Gilbert Burns, probably has made him fall in love with his hands. But I think that’s going to be his downfall. He’s going to fall in love with his hitting so much, but that’s going to be his undoing, in the end, you know.”
Edwards certainly has a point, as we’ve seen several dominant fighters fall in love with his hands like Ronda Rousey. However, Usman’s striking is looking better and better with each fight and proof of that is that it has served him well in finishing opponents.
Leon Edwards, meanwhile, will return to the octagon at UFC 263 against Nate Diaz. If he wins and does so in impressive fashion, he’ll likely get a title shot. He’ll also get his long-awaited rematch against Usman. They first met in 2015 when Kamaru won by decision. Since then the Englishman has wanted to avenge that defeat.
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