Ahead of their highly anticipated trilogy bout at Ultimate Fighting Championship 286 at the 02 Arena in London, American professional mixed martial artist, Kamaru Usman, has threatened to remind British fighter, Leon Edwards, that he took his soul twice’ in their last fight.
Usman, who was almost equalling the UFC win streak record (16) set by record holder, Anderson Silva, as he was 3-1 up on the cards, fell to Edward’s last August after the Brit landed a fifth-round head kick for a knockout win and claimed the welterweight title.
On the other hand, Edwards has been, understandably excited, and outspoken since his highlight reel-worthy knockout, but Usman has every intention of reminding him what happened during the first 24 minutes of their UFC 278 contest.
The Pivot Podcast reported that Usman made this statement on Thursday, ahead of the main event showdown on Saturday.
He said, “It’s going to be a little bit more difficult this time.
“In his head, he forgot about the four rounds before the kick. He forgot that I was taking his soul, so I have to remind him that I’m someone who took his soul twice.
“There are minor adjustments I have to make, but whenever you go into a fight, there’s a lot more going on than what the public can see. There’s a lot that I have to battle through just to make it to the fight.
“I’ve never been in this position, but I know that mentally, nothing has changed for me. This is the same guy that I beat up before. He’s still going to be the same guy. I have to remind him who he is right away. When I fight guys, I fight their heart because I want to break their heart. I want to break their spirit and break their soul.
“When you’re successful, it’s almost like everyone is sitting back waiting for you to lose.
“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 around 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.”
