Former two-division UFC champion and current commentator Daniel Cormier has seen plenty of knockouts in his time. Following Leon Edwards’ landmark fifth-round knockout victory over Kamaru Usman at UFC 278, DC declared the moment the “greatest head kick knockout that we’ve seen in the UFC.” Cormier took to his YouTube channel to discuss the show-stopping moment.
“I can honestly say, and so did my broadcast partners, we all agree, this was the greatest head kick knockout that we’ve seen in the UFC, especially because of the circumstances.
DC Declares Leon Edwards’ Comeback “the greatest head kick knockout” in UFC History
Leon Edwards was down. He was losing to Kamaru Usman. He was down three rounds to one and he was going to lose the fifth. But he found the perfect head kick to make him the champion…
We wrote Leon Edwards’ obituary, and I want to apologize for that. But I don’t see anything wrong, because of the way that it was going and what we’ve seen Kamaru Usman has done prior, I felt like Usman was going to cruise to the finish line and retain his championship. Now this changes everything. Usman has to restart his run.
Keep in mind, Kamaru Usman was up three, four rounds to one. We have to remember that. But just a great night overall, and what I do believe was the greatest [head kick] knockout in UFC [history]. Ronda Rousey-Holly Holm was great, but nothing has matched this. This was the greatest comeback, the single greatest comeback in UFC history, because Leon Edwards snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. He was well on his way to getting beat by Kamaru Usman and he got the job done. So congrats to Leon Edwards and his entire team.”
Kamaru Usman entered the Octagon as the welterweight champion and no.1 ranked pound-for-pound fighter on the UFC roster. Leon Edwards had already lost to Usman once, seven years earlier. Usman was dominant as welterweight champion, defending his title five times prior to the Edwards fight, and will likely see an immediate rematch as soon as he recovers from the stunning finish. DC, however, will be rooting for Leon “Rocky” Edwards.
“If there’s a guy that you’re going to root for, it’s Leon Edwards. He said, ‘I come from nothing, man. My family, we had nothing.’ He’s on the phone with his mom, crying, talking about how their life is going to change. This felt like a movie. The UFC staff played the ‘Rocky’ theme after the fight and during the ‘Rocky’ theme, Leon is on the cage, celebrating with the belt and the crowd is yelling, ‘Rocky! Rocky!’
It was a movie. His cornerman in between rounds was like, ‘Come on, Rock! You’ve got to give yourself a chance!’ I’ve never in my life had this type of emotion, and watching it play out in front of me the way that it did, it’s why we love sports. We love live sports because it’s always unpredictable. “
