LEON EDWARDS almost accepted defeat by decision just moments before he ended Kamaru Uman’s reign at welterweight.
The Brummie thrasher ended Usman’s ‘Nigerian Nightmare,’ which was his reign of terror as a 170lb fighter at the end of August last year with a stunning five-round knockout during the main event of UFC 278 held in Salt Lake City in Utah.
After losing the second, third, and fourth rounds by a wide margin, Edwards made arguably the biggest comeback in UFC’s history with a head kick that was reminiscent of a fairytale with less than one minute remaining on the clock.
He was fighting on two fronts at the same time, seconds before he stunned the world. The fight he faced and the disappointment of losing the most important moment of his life.
The Jamaican-born Brit told SunSport in an exclusive interview: “I knew I needed to finish.”
“My coach told and I knew I had to get out there and finish.” I was down by three rounds.
Edwards’ kick, which shut Usman off from his lights with a kick of 31 years old, was not the “lucky shot”, as some have called it.
Usman’s tendency for exaggerating his head movements when parrying was spotted after endless hours of drills with head and strike coaches Dave Lovell, and Henry Cleminson.
Rocky said, “That technique we practiced in camp.” We were using it.”
Edwards heard his coaches, along with his brother Fabian, call for the shot that would change his entire life.
“I could hear them (my corner) shouting it. ‘Head kick head kick’. They were in the corner.
“But I also waited for the perfect moment to throw that.”
If you watch, I did not throw many headkicks.
“It was more leg kicks inside, to set him up and get his mind off the head kick.
“Usman has a tendency to parry, and he does it big.”
“I knew that if I doubled up on something, it would catch him. And it did.”
Edwards is hoping for a more dramatic end to his first title defense this weekend at UFC 286,, in London.
The former dominant champion Usman has an immediate chance to reclaim the title at The O2 Arena in a highly anticipated trilogy fight.
Edwards believes he won’t be the same person he was in the octagon before their rematch.
SunSport asked the pride of Birmingham: “How can he recover from a knockout?”
