The Nigerian Nightmare, the perfect fighter, the fighter with the ultimate style, the unbeatable welterweight – Kamaru Usman. The fighter with the almost perfect professional record is coming back to the octagon. He has a record of 20-1-0 and his lack of submission endings are being balanced by the fact that almost half of his bouts have KO finishes.
The excitement for his return to the octagon following his injury is real. The people are ready to see him back. The public cannot wait to see who he will take on next.
Will Kamaru Usman Face Leon Edwards At UFC 278?
The MMA journalist and analyst Ariel Helwani is releasing a major teaser this week, stating that the UFC is planning on arranging the Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards 2 rematch at the UFC 278. The event is to happen on the 20th of August in Salt Lake City in Utah.
“The UFC would like Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 to be on that UFC 278 card, but that’s still up in the air because of Usman’s hand recovery.” – Helwani says.
What Helwani is referring to is the hand surgery that Usman underwent back in February this year. The injury happened before the UFC 268 event. At this event, Kamaru Usman despite having an injury on his hand shows up and fights Colby Covington. On top of that, he lasts 5 complete rounds. What’s more impressive he won the fight by a decision.
Yesterday, May 17th, official information from ESPN’s Brett Okamoto states that the champion’s recovery progress is going slower than expected. This, as an only fact, might determine the outcome of whether the teaser fight will happen or not.
“Spoke to Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz about Kamaru Usman’s hand. He said as of now Kamaru has not been medically cleared and there is no timeframe for his return. Kamaru only started slowly testing the hand this month.” – Brett writes.
And this is much more disappointing for Kamaru than we know. He had great plans for 2022. His plan was to fight one of the best, if not the best pound for pound fighters Canelo Alvarez in a boxing match. But the fact that Canelo Alvarez recently lost to Dmitry Bivol is not something that can pass without notice here. So this plan would most probably undergo some changes in the first place. Secondly, he personally hoped for a Leon Edwards rematch. However, the turn of events is not allowing this plan to reach fruition as well.
Kamaru Usman is not active since November last year when he took the victory in the match against Colby Covington at the UFC 268. This happens to be his fifth consecutive title defense. So this fact speaks loud of his abilities as a fighter, his will and determination, and his unbeatable fighting style.
Whether this match will happen or not is still unsure. However, we hope for a fast recovery of the champion and we are eager to see him back as soon as possible.
