UFC star, Kamaru Usman has promised a ‘violent’ performance in his trilogy fight with Leon Edwards at UFC 286 in London on Saturday night, March 18.
Usman had never been taken down or knocked out before Edwards achieved both feats against him in Salt Lake City last year.
In the immediate aftermath of last year’s title fight, Usman spoke out about quickly taking up a revenge fight as soon as possible and even talked up the idea of having the fight in London.
He has his wish and the biggest pay-per-view card ever on UK soil will take place this Saturday night.
On Wednesday, Usman said: ‘He has the belt, by definition he is the champ. Between him and I, we know… I can’t speak for everybody else. Saturday I will take it off him.
‘He landed a beautiful kick, the recoil, I’m a fan of it. I’ve just been trained that way. I’m wired that way. A great win from him but it is time for me to go in and get violent.
‘He will open the door for me to walk through because I’m the king. The funny thing is, he’s forgetting what happened for 24 minutes in the last fight. He landed a beautiful technique but you’re forgetting what happened.
‘Once we get in there I’m throwing everything from the kitchen and bathroom at him! I felt violent going into three fights. Moraes was one because I felt disrespected by matchmaking. The first Covington fight, we all know what he said. Me and Colby were the best wrestlers in the company and didn’t wrestle at all.
‘Masvidal the second time, there were all his excuses to the point where I felt violent in the second fight. This fight I’m starting to get this feeling and I want to feel it all.’
Usman does accept there’s a difference in pressure and motivation entering as the challenger, having defended the belt for so long, often against the same opponent.
He added: ‘Motivation changes, when you defend and defend and defend it can get monotonous. It was almost boring with Mayweather. The reason people watched was to see someone able to beat him. I have the opportunity to fall as a champion and rise again.
‘Lifestyle changes drastically when you’re not the champion any more. When you’re the champ beating everybody you have an aura of invincibility, everyone wants to be around that and it can start to drain you out. After the last fight it just calmed down. I’ve not been quiet, I’ve just been working. I was just cherishing the chance to grind.’