Edwards: Usman Trilogy ‘100 Percent’ is on for 286 in London

The UFC welterweight champion recently revealed he’s training for a trilogy rematch with Usman (20-2 MMA, 15-1 UFC) for UFC 286 in London on March 18. Edwards (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) is confident the fight will go down on that date and on his side of the world – even despite recent rumors speculating Usman is dealing with a hand injury.
“Yeah, 100 percent (I’m fighting Usman at UFC 286),” Edwards told Michael Bisping in a recent interview. “That’s what I’ve been told. Me and my team spoke to the UFC last week, and they said the fight is on.

“It’s all the training for the fight, so I was like, ‘Perfect.’ I’m aiming toward that, and if something changes in the meantime, then we’ll go from there. But now I’m focused on that trilogy against Usman in London.”
The promotion has yet to announce the bout and recently Usman was seen wearing a hand cast at a regional MMA event, sparking doubt on the trilogy happening on the London card in March. Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, assured the public amid speculation that Usman is fine and that the trilogy bout is on.

The two fought in the UFC 278 main event in Salt Lake City in August 2022, and Edwards scored MMA Junkie’s 2022 Knockout of the Year. His finish came with about a minute left in a five-round fight he was about to lose on the scorecards.

Edwards thinks the fight will be different this time around, but with the same end result. He expects to dominate the action from start to finish.

“He’ll be a totally different fighter – I’ve said it and my coaches have said it,” Edwards said. “I knew going into the fight that altitude was going to play a part, but I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a part. I think now, I’ve never lost in the U.K. – amateur or pro. So I’m excited to fight in front of my friends and family. I think it’s going to be a totally different fight. I think if he goes in there thinking it’s going to be the same fight, he’s in for a rude awakening.”

tea

Tea tea tea

Good money to be made on Leon. Usman is old, and getting his chin cracked + injuries make him even older.

UFC making out like it’s on to sell tickets

I’ll never go to one again after the Jones/Cormier bullshit before 200 and the Garbrandt/TJ “back injury” before 213. Crooks fucked me twice in a year.

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That’s a rough gig bro. Jones should’ve been sacked permanently after that. I flew interstate for the card Bobby knuckles got a ‘Hernia’ the day of the fight.

Glad the 284 main has held up. It’s a great fight but the rest of the card is bullshit. I’ll go if it’s in my home city but that’s it

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) gave heavyweight rivals Jon Jones and Ciryl Gane their own poster for the upcoming UFC 285: “Jones vs. Gane” pay-per-view (PPV) event this March in Las Vegas (see it here), though you could argue flyweight foes Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso deserved some artistic real estate for their five round, 125-pound title fight, which serves as the UFC 285 co-main event.
UFC 286: “Edwards vs. Usman 3,” featuring the rubber match between newly-crowned welterweight champion Leon Edwards and former 170-pound titleholder Kamaru Usman, will split the poster with lightweight co-headliners Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev, who throw down in a three-round, non-title fight. Perhaps UFC doesn’t have confidence that Edwards and Usman can carry their own PPV card from a sales perspective.

UFC UK and Australia template - announce main event with local champion, make up rumours about stacked undercard, sell out with gate record, pull undercard fights and put american in comain, fill rest of card with familiar locals, Profit

Rinse and repeat

Edwards should show up to all the press conferences wearing a T shirt with Usman’s unconscious carcass on it. That would create a lot of buzz for the fight and he’d make himself stand out

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I went to that too, we hit the turps early and I bought a black Bobby Knuckles shirt from some random fella on the way.

I doubt Bobby had any stake in it though, oh well.

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I feel the ufc kept it quiet till the last minute so everyone didn’t ask for refunds. No way do you find out about it day of the weigh in

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100% they did, we found out morning of.

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UFC 286 Main Card Revealed

As exciting as it is to see Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman clash for a third time after trading wins with one another, there needs to be more than a main event to sell a pay-per-view. Luckily, it seems that UFC 286 is shaping up to be at least a little deeper than it’s impressive main event.

With a main card start time of 5pm EST, UFC 286 has a must-see co-main event between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev, as well as notable talents like Marvin Vettori, Jack Shore, Muhammad Mokaev, and more. Check out the full card below as it currently stands, per the UFC, as well as start times.

Main Card (ESPN+ PPV, 5pm EST/2pm PST)

  • Leon Edwards vs Kamaru Usman (welterweight title fight)
  • Justin Gaethje vs Rafael Fiziev
  • Gunnar Nelson vs Bryan Barberena
  • Marvin Vettori vs Roman Dolidze
  • Joanne Wood vs Luana Coralina

Prelims (ESPN/ESPN+, 3pm EST/12pm PST)

  • Nathaniel Wood vs Lerone Murphy
  • Jack Shore vs Makwan Amirkhani
  • Sam Peterson vs Yanal Ashmoz

Early Prelims (UFC Fight Pass, 1pm EST/11am PST)

  • Muhammad Mokaev vs Jafel Filho
  • Christian Leroy Duncan vs Duško Todorović
  • Jake Hadley vs Malcolm Gordon
  • Jennifer Maia vs Casey O’Neill
  • Jai Herbert vs Ludovit Klein
  • Juliana Miller vs Veronica Macedo