Last round knock-out against the Welterweight champ
Leon Edwards has been fighting in the UFC since 2014. He lost in his debut match and again to Kamaru Usman three fights later in 2015. Since then, Edwards has been undefeated, with a record of 19-3 overall in MMA. Going into UFC 278, Kamaru only lost once in MMA, which was back in 2013 before his UFC days. Therefore, the odds favored Usman at -380 over Edwards for their fight for the Welterweight Championship.
Leon started the fight well by clearly winning round one, but he lost the next three rounds, according to all the judges' scorecards. So for him to win, he had to finish Usman in the last round. No one had even taken down Usman in the UFC, let alone knock him out and beat him. With 56 seconds left in the match, Leon Edwards knocked out Usman with a head kick.
References
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MMA Fighting’s 2022 Knockout of the Year: Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman
Usman was no stranger to cruising to decision wins and Edwards was hardly known as a one-shot KO artist. That narrative held until the final minute of the fight. Then Edwards detonated.
MMA Fighting
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Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 2 official UFC 278 scorecard
Edwards was down 3-1 against Usman going into the fifth round, making his head-kick stoppage of the pound-for-pound great all the more impressive on Saturday at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City.
MMA Fighting
