Leon Edwards just shocked the world. Edwards’ “Rocky” story came alive with a come-from-behind, head-kick knockout late in round 5 of Saturday night’s UFC 278 main event.
After becoming the first person to score a takedown on the near-perfect champion in round 1, Edwards struggled in the following rounds to build any kind of momentum. Taking over the fight with his superior wrestling and hurling heavy boxing combinations, Usman looked to be on his way to another title defense as he approached Anderson Silva’s record for the most times.
Usman’s pace slowed on lap 5, but it likely led to a unanimous decision win for the champion as Edwards looked defeated in his corner as his team begged him to come alive on the final lap.
Suddenly Edwards gave a right jab and fired a left main kick that knocked Usman out at 4:04 of round 5.
“Pound-for-pound. Headshot. Dead,” Edwards told UFC commentator Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview. “I said all week that I felt like this is my moment. Everything that happened in the past. The past two years, the pandemic. There is no ring rust. I told you, now look at me.”
Edwards improved to 20-3 (1 NC) with the win over Usman. His undefeated run improved to 11. Usman saw his 19-fight win streak snapped and suffered his first loss in nine years.
It was the fourth final finish in a championship fight – just seconds short of Usman’s own finish from Colby Covington in 2019.
CBS Sports was with you all the way on Saturday, bringing you all the results and highlights from the UFC 278 below.
UFC 278 Card and Results
- Leon Edwards (c) defeats. Kamaru Usman via knockout fifth round (header)
- Paulo Costa def. Luke Rockhold by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Merab defeats Dvalishvili. Jose Aldo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
- Lucie Pudilova beats. Wu Yanan via TKO in second round (elbows)
- Tyson Pedro def. Harry Hunsucker via TKO in first round (punches)
- Marcin beats Tybura. Alexander Romanov via majority decision (29-28, 28-29, 28-28)
- Jared Gordon def. Leonardo Santos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Sean Woodson vs. Luis Saldana decided a draw (29-27, 27-29, 28-28)
- Ange Loos def. AJ Fletcher via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Amir Albazi defeats Francisco Figueiredo via first-round submission (rear-naked choke)
- Aori defeats Qileng. Jay Perrin via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Victor Altamirano defeats. Daniel Da Silva via TKO in first round (punches)
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