Edwards vs Usman Fight Info, Date & Time
UFC 285 – Main Event Welterweight Championship Bout
Leon "Rocky" Edwards (20-3, 7 KO) vs. Kamaru "The Nigerian Nightmare" Usman (20-2, 9 KOs)
Date:'Saturday, March 18, 2023
Fight Time:'This will be the final fight on the main card, which begins at 10 p.m. ET.
Venue:'O2 Arena – London, England, United Kingdom
Coverage:'ESPN, PPV
Edwards vs Usman Odds & Prop Bets
Moneyline:
– Leon Edwards (+190)
– Kamaru Usman (-230)
Edwards vs Usman Prediction
Everybody knew this matchup was inevitable. After Leon Edwards' iconic Welterweight Championship win over Kamaru Usman, and instant rematch was always going to be in the cards.
While fighters who lost the first matchup don't have a great track record in UFC rematches, I'm not too concerned about that trend.
24 minutes of the 24 minutes and 4 seconds of the first matchup looked just like a typical Kamaru Usman fight – utterly dominant. Usman landed 5 takedowns on 12 attempts, holding control positions for 10 minutes and 36 seconds. He out-landed Edwards 83 to 55 in significant strikes (even including 46 to 42 when striking from distance). That's exact ly the kind of performance we usually see from Usman, and the kind of performance I expect to see repeated.
It was already great to see Usman get back to a wrestling-heavy approach after having so much success with his striking in recent fights, and after getting knocked out I expect him to lean even more heavily into his strengths in this fight.
Edwards' defensive wrestling is strong enough to drag this one out, but Usman should once again spend a huge chunk of the fight controlling Edwards in the clinch and on the ground.
Prediction: Kamaru Usman wins by decision.
Edwards vs Usman Best Bet
As I write this no prop bets have been released yet, so we might find some more value when they are, but honestly I'm not too concerned. While my pick is Usman by decision, he's still very live to finish Edwards and I'm happy to take a worse price to just get Usman to win straight up.