'Rocky' Edwards finally gets UFC gold with Hollywood KO | Inquirer Sports
UFC

‘Rocky’ Edwards finally gets UFC gold with Hollywood KO

/ 10:43 AM August 22, 2022

Aug 20, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Leon Edwards (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Kamaru Usman (red gloves) during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena.

Aug 20, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Leon Edwards (blue gloves) reacts after defeating Kamaru Usman (red gloves) during UFC 278 at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Down on the judges’ scorecards with a minute left in his UFC title fight against Kamaru Usman, Leon “Rocky” Edwards needed a miracle, but no one expected an ending that even Hollywood filmmakers would have dismissed as too implausible.

Edwards started well in the long-awaited title fight at UFC 278 in Salt Lake City, but Usman dominated the middle three rounds to put himself on course for a decision victory.

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Out of nowhere, Edwards feinted a jab before slamming a kick into the side of Usman’s head, flooring one of the most dominant champions the UFC has ever had and surprising everyone in the Vivint Arena.

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Everyone, that is, apart form Edwards himself, who told Reuters in the run-up to the fight that he had seen how it could all play out.

“I’ve pictured him being up on the scorecards and me coming back and winning – I’ve pictured it many different ways,” Edwards said prior to the fight, but the win he envisioned could hardly have been this perfect.

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“Everyone’s seen my path, everyone knows my path and how it went, and I always believed that was the way it was meant to go,” an emotional Edwards told reporters following one of the most stunning comebacks in the history of cage-fighting.

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Having received his “Rocky” nickname from the boxing movie of the same name, Edwards celebrated by dancing around the octagon to the film’s iconic theme tune, his dream of becoming a UFC champion finally fulfilled.

The 30-year-old, who became only the second British fighter to win a UFC title, now wants to defend his belt on English soil.

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“Wembley (Stadium), for sure. Make it Wembley, that has to be done. This has never been done before,” Edwards beamed before praising his training base in Birmingham.

“I made a point to stay in the UK to achieve this, to show the other guys coming on to me. Look, we can — if you believe in your country, believe in your team, you can achieve it. And that’s what I did,” he added.

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