SALT LAKE CITY – Leon Edwards has stunned the MMA world. With a head kick in the last round of a battle he was conveniently losing, Edwards took out Usman to bring home the UFC welterweight championship in the headliner of UFC 278 on Saturday night here at Vivint Arena. The completion came at 4:04 of the fifth round. Usman was viewed as the pound-for-pound best contender on the planet.
Edwards snapped Usman’s 15-battle UFC series of wins, which was a UFC record. It was perhaps of the most dazzling knockout throughout the entire existence of the game.
“I can’t adequately articulate it,” Edwards said.
Usman had been overwhelming the battle after the principal round. Yet, Usman inclined down on his right side to shield an Edwards left and Edwards got him flush with a left head kick, sending the in excess of 17,000 in participation into a furor. Usman, who was out on contact, was under a moment away from a 6th title safeguard.
Welterweight title: Leon Edwards (20-3 1 NC, 12-2 1 NC UFC) def. Kamaru Usman (c) (20-2, 15-1 UFC) by fifth-round KO
Round-by-Round inclusion:
Cycle 1: Edwards handles a couple of leg kicks, then, at that point, protects a takedown endeavor. He then slips on an assault, and Usman gets him to the material. However, Edwards gets up, and with two minutes to go, he scores an excursion takedown into full mount. Edwards winds up taking the back and undermining a stifle until the horn. 10-9, Edwards.
Cycle 2: Edwards gets his foot captured against the enclosure, and the short interruption permits Usman to crowd with punches. Indeed, even after Edwards moves away, Usman maintains the tension, prompting two takedowns. Edwards is beginning to look somewhat worn out. 10-9, Usman. (19-19)
Cycle 3: Usman resumes his following. A moment in, he gets a takedown. Edwards gets right back up, however Usman is all over him. Edwards handles several shots, however Usman again shut in, gets one more takedown and assumes back command. Then he is on top, in full mount. Edwards looks depleted, and Usman is rolling. 10-9, Usman. (29-28 Usman.)
Cycle 4: Edwards perseveres, lands a couple of strikes and is near a takedown. In any case, Usman protects well, reverses the situation and halfway through the round gets his very own takedown. Usman is in full control, all over Edwards. There’s a respite as official Herb Dean sees Edwards snatch the enclosure to get up from a takedown. Senior member returns them on the material, and, surprisingly, after Edwards gets back up, he is hanging. 10-9, Usman. (39-37 Usman.)
Cycle 5: Usman continues following, and Edwards isn’t undermining. The challenger needs to accomplish something important, and he doesn’t have anything for Usman, who is cruising. Edwards handles two or three shots, yet one is low. Then, similarly as it appeared as though Edwards was out of it, his left high throw takes out Usman.
Complete outcomes from UFC 278
Middleweight: Paulo Costa (14-2, 6-2 UFC) def. Luke Rockhold (16-6, 6-5 UFC) by consistent choice (Watch this battle on ESPN+)
Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold went into Saturday not just as two of the best middleweights on the planet, yet in addition two of the middleweights needing a success. Eventually, it was Costa who made it happen.
Costa (14-2) out-endured Rockhold (16-6) throughout a tiring three-round issue at UFC 278 on Saturday, gathering consistent appointed authorities’ scores of 30-27. The two middleweights seemed worse for wear in the high height of Vivint Arena, especially Rockhold, who over and over put his hands on his hips among adjusts and had to inhale out of his mouth because of blood pouring from his nose right off the bat.
It was a genuinely necessary success for Costa, who started his profession with 13 continuous wins however was returning off to-back misfortunes to Israel Adesanya and Marvin Vettori.
For Rockhold, a previous UFC and Strikeforce champion, it had all the earmarks of being the stopping point. The 37-year-old returned on Saturday from a three-year cutback, and basically reported his retirement in the Octagon later. In spite of the fact that he didn’t really say he was finished, he was very close to home, eliminated his gloves inside the enclosure and gestured in attestation when UFC observer Joe Rogan referenced the chance of it being his last battle.
“I can’t do this s- – – any longer,” Rockhold said. “I did the best that I can with it. I’m f- – – ing old.”
Costa, whose last success was in 2019 against Yoel Romero, got off to a hot beginning by safeguarding Rockhold’s underlying takedown endeavors. He handled a few hard hammerfists in the wake of stuffing one of those early endeavors, which promptly caused expanding all over and bloodied his nose. He kept a consistent strain on Rockhold on the feet, continually strolling him to the wall and tossing mixes.
Toward the finish of the main round, Rockhold’s non-verbal communication was awful. He inclined vigorously vacillating between the first and second adjusts, and over and over brought down his hands and searched for rests in the activity. He really got a rest in the second round when Costa handled a coincidental punch disgraceful. Indeed, even after the break, be that as it may, Rockhold kept on breathing intensely.
As per UFC Stats, Costa landed 106 all out strikes to 57 for Rockhold.
Rockhold showed heart and determination in the third, when he kept on tossing perilous shots despite the fact that he was plainly depleted. Toward the finish of the battle, he switched position on Costa on the floor and completed the round on top. The battle finished with Rockhold scouring his face on Costa, so the blood coming from his nose spread over the Brazilian’s face.
Notwithstanding the two misfortunes coming in, Costa is as yet thought to be a main 5 middleweight, in spite of the fact that he has communicated an interest in enclosing the not so distant future.
Men’s bantamweight: Merab Dvalishvili (15-4, 8-2 UFC) def. Jose Aldo (31-8, 13-7 UFC) by consistent choice (Watch this battle on ESPN+)
Dvalishvili had landed at least five takedowns in everything except two of his past nine UFC battles. He had hit twofold figures in three of those sessions. His epithet is “The Machine,” and it was clear why that is.
Then, at that point, he stepped in with Aldo and went 0 for 16 on takedown endeavors. Was it Dvalishvili’s demise? No, it was not. The 31-year-old from the Republic of Georgia couldn’t get the Brazilian legend to the material, yet his tenacious endeavors against the enclosure, however thwarted in a steady progression, delivered a relentless assault of knees to the leg that, joined with the work expected to stop takedowns, depleted Aldo and prompted Dvalishvili’s seventh consecutive triumph (29-28, 29-28, 30-27).
The success streak ties Dvalishvili for the best in the bantamweight division with the boss, however no title standoff is up and coming. The winner, Aljamain Sterling, is Dvalishvili’s preparation accomplice on Long Island, New York, and Dvalishvili has zero desire to battle him. “He is my sibling,” Dvalishvili said.
He additionally honored Aldo, the 35-year-old previous featherweight champ from Brazil. Aldo got a thunderous applause during his walkout and the night’s most intense commendation during his presentation. He saw a three-battle series of wins reach a conclusion. However, en route, he gained Dvalishvili’s appreciation.
“He was extremely specialized against the enclosure,” Dvalishvili said. “Ordinarily, I bring down everyone.”
Ladies’ bantamweight: Lucie Pudilová (14-7, 3-5 UFC) def. Wu Yanan (12-6, 1-5 UFC) by second-round TKO (Watch this battle on ESPN+)
Lucie Pudilova, left, procured her third win in the UFC with a TKO finish of Wu Yanan on Saturday. Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC
Pudilova was a brawler in her initially go-around with the UFC. This time, it’s reasonable she has improved and is undeniably more flexible.
Utilizing wrestling and rough ground and pound, Pudilova got a TKO triumph at 4:04 of the second round over Wu Yanan. Pudilova, who is currently preparing at SBG Ireland under mentor John Kavanagh, brought Wu down, got her covered, moved to mount and en route was pounding down with large punches and elbows. Official Herb Dean had no real option except to step in and stop the battle.
“I can’t really accept that I’m back in the UFC,” Pudilova said.
Pudilova likewise got a takedown in the principal round and had a ton of progress on the ground. Wu had some nice leg kicks on the feet, yet Pudilova got an arm-and-head toss in the subsequent round, kicked Wu’s back and off shooting rough elbows from top position, prompting the completion. Wu had no responses.
Pudilova, 28, went 5-1 with the Oktagon advancement subsequent to being delivered by the UFC in 2020. The Czech Republic local lost four straight prior to being cut, however two of those were $50,000 Fight of the Night exhibitions.
Wu, a 26-year-old from China battling out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has dropped four straight.
Light heavyweight: Tyson Pedro (9-3, 5-3 UFC) def. Harry Hunsucker (7-6, 0-3 UFC) by first-round TKO (Watch this battle on ESPN+)
Tyson Pedro celebrates after a battle round TKo versus Harry Hunsucker at UFC 278 on Saturday. Alex Goodlett/Getty Images
It wasn’t exactly quite a while in the past, Pedro was viewed as an extremely encouraging possibility at 205 pounds. That opinion has now returned.
Pedro, 30, lost a great deal of force somewhere in the range of 2017 and 2022, when wounds restricted him to only six all out appearances, in which he held a mediocre 3-3 record. Since getting back to wellbeing this year, the Australian has recorded consecutive wraps up against Ike Villanueva and presently Hunsucker.
The completion on Saturday came only 65 seconds into the battle. He got Hunsucker with a perfect, counter left hit. Following handling the shot, Pedro grinned, pointed at Hunsucker and moved forcefully forward. He dropped him minutes after the fact with a front kick to the midriff and completed the battle with punches on the ground.
“I prepared so hard, it was an extremely hard camp,” Pedro said. “To make it happen that fast, that is what’s really going on with it. I haven’t battled before fans for a considerable length of time, so do me only one blessing. Allow me to hear some commotion.”
A move forward in contest will probably be next for Pedro, as he was a 8-to-1 wagering #1 over Hunsucker. He improves to 5-3 by and large in the UFC. His misfortunes came against experienced resistance in Ilir Latifi, Ovince St-Preux and Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua.