Leon Edwards knocked out Kamaru Usman in the fifth round of their fight at UFC 278 with a head-kick, taking the welterweight title for himself in a shocking fashion. Usman had been on a 15-fight UFC winning streak, just one shy of Anderson Silva’s UFC record.
With his victory, Edwards becomes the first Jamaican-born fighter and second England-based athlete to win a UFC title.
“It’s more for the people that grew up where I grew up,” Edwards said afterward. “I know it. I felt it. I felt the pressure. I felt the doubt. I felt people saying it couldn’t be done. I was born with nothing.”
Alex Goodlett / Getty Images
Usman had appeared to be dominating the fight throughout the early rounds, until entering the fifth, when he attempted to defend a strike from Edwards, who then hit him with a left head kick, sending him to the ground.
“That’s how crazy the sport is,” UFC president Dana White said. “It’s what makes this sport the greatest sport in the world. You can sit through four rounds and four minutes and that can happen in a fight. Anything is possible in this sport.”
Usman was transported to the hospital after the fight, but confirmed he was alright on Twitter afterward.
“Champs f— up sometimes … but we bounce back and come with vengeance!!” he wrote to his fans.
He also congratulated Edwards on the win.
[Via]