Kamaru Usman found himself bewildered after ending up in an ambulance following his loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 last month.
The former welterweight champion enjoyed a dominant run to become champion, including a win over Edwards early in their promotional tenures, and held the title for over three years. He appeared to be heading for another successful defence against the Brit until a late head kick knocked him out cold and saw his rival crowned champion.
Usman was immediately taken to hospital after the frightening knockout and now must re-establish himself before going for a world title trilogy with Edwards, that Dana White is keen to make at Wembley Stadium. And speaking with Joe Rogan for his MMA show, the former champion explained how he had no idea why he was in an ambulance when he awoke from the knockout.
"I wanted to throw with conviction like I did with Masvidal and get him out of there," Usman explained while detailing his strategy for the fight. "What I’m going to do is shake left, shake right and then I’m going to let it go, but I’ve got to get him moving first, and I didn’t do a great job of that.
“I’m moving, moving, OK, I’ve got him set up, which I really didn’t. I shake left, I shake right, and I’m sitting in an ambulance and they’re asking me, ‘Do you know where you’re at?’ I’m like, ‘What the f***?’ I was good, I watched the fight over, I’m good. I was talking, I talked to Trevor [Wittman, his coach].
"I talked to everyone, because you go back and then you go in the medical tent and they take care of you and all of that. I talked to my family, I hugged everyone, because it was on video and everything. I remember sitting. It was like Leon gave me a 20-minute nap.”
Who do you think wins the trilogy fight between Usman and Edwards? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Edwards' victory was the first time that a Brit had won a world title in the UFC since Michael Bisping's famous knockout of Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 in 2016. Usman is likely to receive an immediate rematch given how dominant a champion he was heading into the fight.
Despite beating him, Edwards still finds himself underneath Usman on the pound-for-pound list within the promotion. Alexander Volkanovski, Israel Adesanya and Charles Oliveira all sit above the Nigerian in fourth place, while Edwards sits just outside of the top five at No.6.
Other prospective opponents lined up for Edwards include Jorge Masvidal, but the American will need to land at least one win in order to earn the grudge fight. He hasn't scored a victory since 2019, but has a read-made story with Edwards due to their altercation at UFC London in March of that year and his massive following.
