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Reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Kamaru Usman plans to defeat longtime rival Leon Edwards in the UFC 278 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this weekend in Salt Lake City, Utah, then pack on some extra muscle (a lot of that going around these days) and fly straight to the light heavyweight division.
He might want to check with promotion president Dana White before packing his bags.
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LIVE! Watch UFC 278 PPV On ESPN+ Here!
BLOCKBUSTER WELTERWEIGHT REMATCH! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) returns to Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, on Sat., Aug. 20, 2022, for the first time in more than five years, headlined by a blockbuster Welterweight championship bout that will see Kamaru Usman run it back with No. 2-ranked contender, Leon Edwards. In UFC 278’s pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, No. 4-seeded Middleweight contender, Paulo Costa, aims to spoil the return of former 185-pound champion, Luke Rockhold. And last but not least, former Featherweight champion and all-time great, Jose Aldo, returns to Bantamweight action, too!
“That’s crazy, he’s never said that to me,” White told MMA Underground. “But I mean, when you look at those guys, you’re looking at (Jiri) Prochazka, Glover (Teixeira), Jan (Blachowicz), Magomed (Ankalaev) … I mean, these guys are fucking monsters. Yeah, I think that’s a bad idea. The guys at middleweight are big. I mean when you start talking about (Jared) Cannonier, (Robert) Whittaker, (Marvin) Vettori, Israel (Adesanya), those are scary guys at that weight. (Alex) Pereira … even (Derek) Brunson — you’ve got a guy like Brunson who can wrestle too, you know what I mean? Tough one.”
Usman planned to skip middleweight to avoid fighting fellow countryman Israel Adesanya.
Jiri Prochazka is the current light heavyweight champion and stands 6’3” with an 80-inch reach, one of many reasons “Denisa” holds a frightening 25 knockouts in 29 wins. Elsewhere in the 205-pound Top 5 are former champions Glover Teixeira and Jan Blachowicz, along with surging light heavyweight bruiser Magomed Ankalaev.
A tall order for any UFC fighter … particularly a welterweight.