Kamaru Usman believes Leon Edwards should move to middleweight after UFC 304 loss: “Not a lot of them are grappling”
Kamaru Usman believes that Leon Edwards should consider a move up in weight following his UFC 304 loss.
‘Rocky’ returned to the octagon in Manchester over the weekend. Back for the first time since a dominant decision victory over Colby Covington in December, Leon Edwards faced Belal Muhammad. The UFC welterweight champion entered the contest a heavy favorite, having dominated their first encounter in March 2021 until an eye poke caused a no-contest.
However, ‘Remember The Name’ shocked the world in the main event of UFC 304. Using a wrestling-heavy gameplan, Muhammad took down the champion again and again. After five hard-fought rounds, Leon Edwards lost his title by unanimous decision. In the process, foiling his plans to move to middleweight for a future championship bout.
However, Kamaru Usman believes that the British fighter should move up to middleweight anyway. Speaking on the Pound 4 Pound Show alongside Henry Cejudo, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ reacted to Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad 2. Usman is no stranger to fighting the former welterweight champion, going 1-2 in their trilogy.
Kamaru Usman thinks Leon Edwards should move up to middleweight 🤔
“There’s not a lot of middleweights that are grappling like a guy like myself and Belal [Muhammad].”
🎥 @pound4poundshow #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/KnQlnyGnr7
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 30, 2024
Kamaru Usman believes Leon Edwards should move to middleweight following UFC 304
In the discussion, Kamaru Usman argued that the move would be a good one given the lack of high-level grapplers at middleweight. While Leon Edwards has defeated grapplers in the past, he struggled badly on Saturday. With that in mind, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ believes that the Brit should move up, if he can put on weight properly.
“I’m interested to see how Leon Edwards is going to regroup.” Kamaru Usman stated on the podcast, discussing UFC 304. “How he’s going to get back at [welterweight], if he does get back. I know he was talking about moving up before this, and he’s a guy I would like to see move up to middleweight. I would like to see him move up to middleweight, if he can put the size on.”
He continued, “He and his style [works well at 185]. I would like to see him move to middleweight because there’s not a lot of middleweights that are grappling, like a guy like myself, like Belal, or some of these other guys that can grapple. I wouldn’t mind seeing him at middleweight.”
What do you make of these comments about former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards? Do you agree with Kamaru Usman?
