Kamaru Usman vs Leon Edwards Prediction: Bet on the champ

On the night of August 21, another big UFC 278 event will take place in the United States. In the main event of the night, current champion Kamaru Usman will defend his title against Leon Edwards.

The bout will take place in the welterweight division. Usman is the defending champion, Edwards is number two in the official UFC rankings of the division. Bookmakers consider Usman the favorite to win the fight.

The men faced off in 2015, and that time Kamaru Usman won by unanimous decision.

Usman is on a streak of fifteen wins in a row, and the next one will be a record. Of all the champions in the league, the Nigerian Nightmare is the most competitive, no danger in the division from anyone. This is a truly versatile fighter, with no weaknesses, who quite rightly has his eyes on the neighboring weight classes already.

In his previous fight, Kamaru faced (also for the second time) his most dangerous competitor in the division, Colby Covington. He won it again, but not so convincingly. Still, the Nigerian finished all the other challengers without a question.

"Many people think the strongest person I've ever faced is Leon Edwards. He's really not a bad fighter, but when Jorge Masvidal came out against me, you said the same thing. Everybody remembers the story of that tough, slick and dangerous stiker. But everybody also remembers how Masvidal took Edwards apart."

Kamaru Usman

Edwards only had one full fight after a two-year hiatus and won by decision over Nate Diaz without convincing anyone. Yes, he won on points over a veteran who hadn't been in the cage in about two years before that fight, but he almost got knocked out himself at the very end. During the very last minute of the fight, Diaz was chasing Leon around the octagon, trying to finish him. Edwards was really struggling to stay alive and wait for the bell. Still, should Diaz have been given at least ten more seconds, we would not even think of Leon in the context of the fight for the title.

Nevertheless, experts' predictions are very cautious.

"The odds are 60 to 40 in favor of Usman. They have become completely different fighters since their first meeting. Kamaru has become a better boxer and Leon has become a better fighter. It will be an interesting fight."

Khamzat Chimaev

The objective measurements of the opponents are pretty similar, but if you dig deeper and compare, for example, the opposition, you can understand that they are at a completely different level.

Usman is definitely better than Edwards in every component of the fight. But Leon has a chance to take the fight to a decision. He has to somehow avoid the ground and keep his distance in the standup. He has great footwork and he's pretty good at defending against take-downs, but the problem is that Kamaru Usman will likely solve the problem.

“I don’t see Edwards winning. It’s a fight, anything can happen. There’s no 1,000 percent winning for anybody in this sport. I don’t care if you’re undefeated. It’s just a matter of time. I think Usman is a little more complete, and at the end of the day, just the wrestling, it will come down to the wrestling. On the feet, Leon’s a little bit more polished, maybe a little bit more variety with setups or attacks, but Usman’s wrestling, I think he’ll keep Leon honest to where he won’t open up as he would with a lot of guys. I see Usman winning.”

Jorge Masvidal

The bookmakers are also unanimous on this point. Bet365 offers odds of 1.28 on Usman’s win, while Edwards’ victory is estimated at 3.75.