Kamaru Usman plans to take Leon Edwards' spirit, soul and title in UFC 286 rematch

Akinkunle Bolarinwa 

The MMA world was stunned this past August when UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman lost his title thanks to a Hail Mary kick.

Leon Edwards was dominated by Kamaru for nearly five full rounds.

He was on his way to a landslide decision loss when he drilled Usman with a head kick and put him out cold to win the 170-pound title.

Usman said the pressure was on him in that fight because of his 15-fight UFC winning streak and aura of invincibility, which had people hoping he’d lose. 

Usman said people were hoping he’d lose.

“When you’re successful, it’s almost like everyone is sitting back waiting for you to lose,” Usman said.

“That’s what I think the knock on Floyd Mayweather was. He was so successful and perfect at his craft that people bought his fights just to watch him lose. … Once it happened to me, it was the kick heard ’round the world.

“The kick was the only weapon he used that worked. It was just a good kick. It was something that I knew that I didn’t do a good job, or I didn’t do as well as I should have to stop it. But it was just a beautiful kick.

Hat’s off to him.”

Saturday, Usman gets a chance to avenge the loss and get the title back in a rematch, which actually is a trilogy fight. 

The two first fought in 2015, when Usman won a unanimous decision.

In the trilogy bout, which headlines UFC 286 at The O2 in front of Edwards’ home fans in London, Usman said as long as he knows that kick is out there, everything else should fall into place.