Leon Edwards stuns Usman to claim UFC welterweight title 

Jamaican-born Leon Edwards created a shocker when he floored Kamaru Usman in the fifth and final round to claim the welterweight championship at UFC on Saturday night in Salt Lake City.

Edwards, from Birmingham, England, was trailing in the bout when he landed a left-footed kick to the right side of Usman’s face and neck in the final minute of the contest.

Usman had looked set to notch his 16^th straight win, which would have levelled the all-time UFC record, but Edwards had other ideas.

“That crosshead kick landed perfectly,” Edwards, with a 20 and three record, said. He has not lost a bout since Usman defeated him seven years ago, chalking up nine wins on the trot.

Nigerian Usman entered the contest with a 20 and two record and appeared every bit the best pound for pound fighter for much of the contest, as he led 39-37 on the judges’ scorecards at the end of four rounds.

“I can’t put it to words, it’s been a long, long fight through four years. You all doubted me saying I couldn’t do it, you all said I couldn’t do it. Look at me now!” screamed an emotional Edwards.

He added: “It doesn’t matter, I’m from the trenches, I’m built like this, I’ve been down my whole life, look at me now, look at me now. I do it for Birmingham, I do it for the kids that grew up where I grew up, in the trenches. I do it for everyone coming behind me. I told you it’s possible, we can win a belt from the UK, I told you! Now look at me now, look at me now!” he repeated.

But the Britton wasn’t finished: “I told you I could do it, I told you. Pound for pound what, pound for pound what, there is no pound for pound, the belt belongs to nobody, does it?

“I was born in Jamaica with nothing, I lived in a wooden shed, zinc roof, look at me now. God is on my side, I said it all week that I felt like this is my moment, everything happened in the past, the two years out, the pandemic, all of it. They all said I couldn’t come back and do it, there is no ring rust, I told you that already, now look at me now, champion of the world, champion of the world.”