Pound for Pound Champ Goes Down: Usman vs Edwards 2, A Strategy Breakdown

The welterweight championship showdown between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards ended in a highlight which few to no Mixed Martial Arts fans expected. Leon Edwards’ beautiful high kick which knocked out the then pound-for-pound king also ended a near historic winning streak and a title-reign which was on the verge of being compared to the legend Georges St. Pierre. By the end of UFC 278, the whole world was shocked, but after the excitement settles, we may take a look into the strategies of both fighters:

Kamaru 'The Nigerian Nightmare' Usman

Kamaru Usman’s strategy for his second fight with Edwards seemed to be very similar to that of their first fight; use powerful strikes to set up takedowns and control the fight in the clinch. Usman was successful with a few takedowns, but as in their first fight, Edwards showed off his ability to get back to his feet and defend takedowns. Usman is a very offensive wrestler, having plenty of success taking down his opponents due to his clear physical strength advantage in nearly every fight. His only issue is setting up submissions as he has only finished one fight in that fashion, and it came on July 12, 2015 against Hayder Hassan during The Ultimate Fighter 21 Finale.

Despite this, Usman racked up 10:55 of control time during the fight and out-landed Edwards 83-55 in the significant strikes department even though he was less accurate, landing 61% of his strikes compared to Edwards’ 73%. Although he had a rocky (pun intended) start to the first round, he cruised through rounds 2, 3 and 4, while following his game plan, thus forcing Leon Edwards to be at his best for the final championship round.

Leon 'Rocky' Edwards

Leon Edwards started off very strong in the first round, becoming the first man in the UFC to take down Kamaru Usman and even attempted a rear-naked choke. While this did not seem to be part of his original strategy, he used a beautiful inside trip after Usman initiated a clinch. After the takedown took place, Leon seemed to be making reads the whole fight as he only threw a total of 85 strikes throughout 5 rounds. Edwards has fantastic striking which includes a variety of kicks which are thrown with perfect technique.

Fighting in the southpaw stance against an orthodox fighter who is very boxing-oriented, his back kicks have a high likelihood of landing both to the body and the head, because the stance difference. Leon’s frequent use of front kicks and round kicks to the body and inside of Usman’s legs were key in setting up the head kick that ended the fight, as well as the reads he picked up on Usman’s defense of his punches. Repeated body kicks make an opponent more inclined to defend the body when a kick is being thrown, and slipping punches in the same way can lead a smart fighter to set up different strikes and put his or her opponents lights out. A culmination of both situations are what lead to the finish in this fight, as Edwards feinted a jab and a cross, forcing Usman to slip his head towards Leon’s left, running his chin straight into a beautifully timed kick, knocking him unconscious.

While Kamaru Usman claimed the kick was a ‘Hail Mary,’ many who have experience in striking will say otherwise. It was the only foreseeable end to a diverse array of defensive errors that Usman made on the feet, which Leon Edwards exploited. In the words of Damien Trainor, an accomplished Muay Thai practitioner who has won two world championships, “Fighting is like nothing else in the world. It needs 100 different answers to a single question.”

Leon Edwards had all the answers on August 20.

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By: Jason Liakakos