Leon Edwards labels UFC title win over Kamaru Usman ‘one of my worst performances’

Sign up to our free sport newsletter for all the latest news on everything from cycling to boxing Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news Sign up to our free sport email for all the latest news SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Leon Edwards has said his welterweight title win against Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 might have been one of his ‘worst performances’. Edwards, who became Britain’s second ever UFC champion with the victory, had taken down Usman in the first round – something no fighter had managed to do to the Nigerian-American in the UFC. Having watched Luke Rockhold and Jose Aldo tire in the evening’s two previous fights on Saturday, Edwards told The MMA Hour on Monday: “In the back of my mind I thought, ‘Why is everyone getting tired?’ “I was watching it thinking, ‘I won’t get tired, because I’ve been here for two weeks, I slept in altitude at home – I probably won’t feel it.’ “When we went out there, after the first round. In my head I could think what I wanted to do, but my body just wasn’t doing it.” Leon Edwards achieves one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history Former champions Rockhold and Aldo both suffered decision defeats over three rounds, and Edwards was on course for the same result over five.