Headshot dead! That is what has happened to Leon Edwards’s aura after his recent losses and owing to the probable direction where his career is headed. This same aura went off the charts after he knocked out the nightmarish, nigh unstoppable Kamaru Usman, in their UFC 278 rematch in 2022. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, whom Dana White calls the welterweight GOAT, actually dominated ‘Rocky’ for five rounds in their second outing. In a twist of fate, the last minute of the final round saw the Englishman landing a fantastic head kick on Usman, briefly severing the latter’s consciousness.
But alas, the Jamaica native’s reign got neutralized after getting annihilated by Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 and then by Sean Brady in their UFC London clash on Saturday. And Usman, who has not won a fight since losing the title to Edwards, feels that becoming the champion because of one ‘magical’ moment (which some would call a fluke) worked against the Englishman, and is the reason behind his recent losses.
“When you become champ by some form of magic, you start feeling like ‘I’m the best’ but you still have holes in your game. If you don’t take the time to clean that up, you won’t stay there very long,” Usman told co-host Henry Cejudo on their ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast.
Kamaru Usman reacts to Leon Edwards’ loss
“When you become champ by some form of MAGIC, you start feeling like “I’m the best” but you still have holes in your game”
“If you don’t take the time to clean that up, you won’t stay there very long, you saw it with Sean Strickland” pic.twitter.com/QhKCGxn7wb
— ACD MMA (@acdmma_) March 25, 2025
To be fair to the Englishman, he did beat Usman again in their UFC 286 trilogy fight in 2023. But that was through a majority decision after a pretty close fight, and not a stoppage or domination as you would expect of a prevailing champion. The Nigeria native seems to be suggesting Edwards’ game has stagnated since becoming champ and the Birmingham resident hasn’t worked to close the ‘holes’ in his game. The biggest hole in Edwards’s game seems to be his absolute inability to deal with high-level grapplers. This is a bit surprising since ‘Rocky’ did beat a few good grapplers on his come-up.
But then again, there are levels to this game, and clearly, the striker extraordinaire is not good enough to deal with the grapplers at the top of the division. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have had such a hard time against Muhammad and Brady. But would Edwards losing to Usman at UFC 278 would have made him work harder and improve his game even more? Maybe or maybe not. But Usman certainly thinks it would have. In fact, another one of Edwards’ distinguished opponents agrees with Usman’s take in large part.
Colby Covington trashes Leon Edwards after UFC London loss
Colby Covington failed to capitalize on his third UFC title opportunity against Leon Edwards in their UFC 296 clash. It wasn’t a highlight reel-worthy match-up by any means but ‘Rocky’s careful and deliberate fighting style helped him outstrike the Clovis native for five rounds after which Edwards won a unanimous decision. The loss did no favors to Covington as Donald Trump, who was in the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas to support ‘Chaos’ walked out while the fight was going on- so terrible was ‘Chaos’s showing against Edwards.
But that humiliating loss hasn’t prevented Covington from running his mouth over Edwards’ loss. “I thought that after I fought Leon, the motivation wasn’t there anymore, I can tell in the fight, that I broke my foot immediately and he did nothing… I can tell after that fight he just wasn’t hungry anymore,” Covington told ‘Submission Radio’.
In fact, Edwards’ main problem, according to Covington, is that “he’s made too much money,” which means that the Englishman just isn’t “motivated anymore.” This is why ‘Chaos’ feels it is time for the Brit to “hang them up.”
Of course, anything Covington says should be taken with a pinch of salt because he puts on a loud-mouthed and rude persona for marketing purposes. However, the former interim champ is making some pretty good points. Edwards’ possible lack of motivation part has been flagged by another UFC legend, Robert Whittaker. ‘The Reaper’, like Usman, feels that becoming champion may have been bad for Edwards and led to stagnation in his game along with the aforementioned motivation problems.
With so many UFC legends feeling that becoming champ may not have been good for ‘Rocky’, maybe there is something to that view after all. What do you think about Kamaru Usman’s thoughts on Edwards winning the title?
The post Kamaru Usman Humiliates Leon Edwards With Bitter Reality Check After UFC London Loss – “You Still Have Holes” appeared first on EssentiallySports.