Edwards vs Usman III

Who won Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards beat Kamaru Usman by majority decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC 286, on Saturday 18th March 2023 at o2 Arena in London.

The scorecards were announced as 48-46, 48-46, 47-47 in favor of the winner Leon Edwards.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Welterweight division, which meant the weight limit was 170 pounds (12.1 stone or 77.1 KG).

This contest was for the UFC Welterweight championship.

Edwards vs Usman III stats

Leon Edwards stepped into the octagon with a record of 20 wins, 3 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Kamaru Usman made his way to the cage with a record of 20 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by knock out and 1 by submission.

This was Leon Edwards' 19th fight in the UFC, having made his debut for the promotion in 2014.

Leon Edwards' UFC record stood at 14-4-0, while Kamaru Usman's came in at 15-3-0.

The stats suggested Usman had a slight advantage in power over Edwards, with a 45% knock out percentage over Edwards' 35%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Edwards had a slight advantage over Usman, with a 15% submission rate over Usman's 5%.

Leon Edwards was the younger man by 4 years, at 33 years old.

Edwards had a height advantage of 2 inches over Usman. Despite this, Usman had a 4-inch reach advantage.

Edwards was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 1 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 1 year and 5 months earlier than Usman, whose first professional fight was in 2012. He had fought 10 more professional rounds, 86 to Usman's 76.

Edwards vs Usman III form

Edwards had won all 5 of his most recent fights, stopping 1 opponent and going to the judges 4 times.

In his last fight before this contest, he had won against Rafael dos Anjos at UFC on ESPN 4 on 20th July 2019 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at AT&T Center, San Antonio, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Gunnar Nelson at UFC on ESPN+ 5 on 16th March 2019 by split decision in their 3 round contest at 02 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Donald Cerrone at UFC Fight Night 132 on 23rd June 2018 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore.

Before that, he was victorious against Peter Sobotta at UFC Fight Night 127 on 17th March 2018 by knockout in the 3rd round at 02 Arena, London, United Kingdom.

He had won against Bryan Barberena at UFC Fight Night 115 on 2nd September 2017 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at Ahoy Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Usman had beaten 4 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 2 of them, going the distance twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on 20th August 2022 by knockout in the 5th round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Vivint Arena, Salt Lake City, United States.

Previous to that, he had beaten Colby Covington at UFC 268 on 6th November 2021 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at Madison Square Garden, New York City.

Going into that contest, he had defeated Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on 24th April 2021 by knockout in the 2nd round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville.

Before that, he was victorious against Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 on 13th February 2021 by knockout in the 3rd round in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had won against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 on 11th July 2020 by unanimous decision in their UFC Welterweight championship fight at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Kamaru Usman had been fighting more than Leon Edwards.

Going to this contest, Leon Edwards had last fought 5 years, 8 months and 14 days ago, while Kamaru Usman's last outing had been 2 years, 7 months and 14 days ago.

Edwards' last 5 fights had come over a period of 7 years, 7 months and 1 day, meaning he had been fighting on average every 1 year, 6 months and 8 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 19 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.8 rounds on average.

Usman's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 8 months and 23 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 11 months and 11 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 20 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Edwards vs Usman III?

Leon Edwards was a 9/4 (+230) underdog going into the contest, while Kamaru Usman made his way into the ring at 9/25 (-280) with oddsmakers.