Israel Adesanya 's words proved true as he predicted Leon Edwards would be the toughest challenger for Kamaru Usman 's welterweight belt.
Welterweight champion Usman was on his way to making the sixth defence of his title against Edwards in their rematch at UFC 278 on Saturday night, being up on the judges' scorecards heading into the final round. Edwards looked down and out as the fifth round unfolded, that was until he landed a perfect head kick which rendered Usman unconscious as he suffered his first UFC loss.
And although Adesanya backed Usman to win, he had labelled Edwards as his toughest challenger yet, stating on his YouTube channel: "The biggest threat to Kamaru's throne is Leon Edwards. "I'm going with Kamaru because of his momentum right now. Also, I know how hard he works. Usman is a guy right now that has momentum behind him and I feel like [Edwards] is a guy that deserves this title shot because he's been overlooked for so long."