Din Thomas
Din Thomas reacts to Leon Edwards’ knockout victory against Kamaru Usman by saying that he knows nothing about fighting
Leon Edwards pulled off one of the greatest comeback victories in a UFC title fight history. What transpired in the octagon at UFC 278 felt like a motion picture. However, the road to victory for Edwards was a backbreaker, and he had to reach out within him to pull out the incredible finish.
Kamaru Usman was undefeated for nine years before he met Leon Edwards at UFC 278. The fight began with Edwards using his range to keep Usman away. He threw a strong calf kick and body shots to open his attacks. Usman realized that he needs to utilize his wrestling to disrupt the British fighter’s flow.
He quickly closed the distance and initiated a clinch. Edwards however, maintained his composure and posture forcing Usman into a clinch contest. In one of the rarest sights in a Kamaru Usman fight, Edwards established strong under-hooks that postured the Nigerian up. and used his full force to trip Usman and secure a takedown. ‘Rocky’ obtained a dominant position of full mount, and quickly took Usman’s back. He worked his way for a submission in the remainder of the round.
Realizing that he was one round down against the challenger, Usman came into the second round stronger. He pressured his opponent with intent, and forced his wrestling onto him. He managed to wear down his opponent who seemed to have no answers for Usman’s wrestling proficiency.
The Nigerian was taking down his opponent at will and it looked like he was well on his way to a decision victory. Before the last round, Edwards’ corner encouraged him to dig deep and urged him to push the action. He pulled out a sneaky head kick weapon from deep in his arsenal, that stifled Usman and knocked him out cold. What followed was clear display of thrill and agony from both sides, and a reminder of why this is the most unpredictable sport in the world.
Going into round five it was clear that Leon Edwards was down by three rounds. His coaching team did their best to get him fired up. Din Thomas, a former UFC fighter himself weigh-in during fights as part of the broadcast team to provide expert insights.
As the fifth round proceeded similar to the earlier rounds, Thomas cast aspersions on Edwards’ body language:
“If it wasn’t obvious enough, Leon is broken now,” Thomas said on the broadcast, with three minutes to go. “And the biggest tell that you can always know this is because he doesn’t give his coach eye contact in the corner. When you don’t give him eye contact, you’re ashamed. And he’s embarrassed right now of his own performance.”
A few moments later, Edwards knocked out Usman with a left head kick out of the blue. Reacting to the spectacular moment and mocking himself for having questioned the Brit, Thomas wrote on Twitter:
“I give up on fighting. I don’t know anything about fighting.”
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