Leon Edwards refused to believe Kamaru Usman has taken eye off ball ahead of UFC 278 rematch and vows to ‘whip’ P4P king
LEON EDWARDS has prepared for the best version of Kamaru Usman - despite rumblings the welterweight champion has taken his eye off the ball.
Edwards, 30, will look to end the Nigerian Nightmare's dominant reign over the 170lb division early on Sunday morning in the main event of UFC 278 in Salt Lake City.
Usman's sixth title defence comes amid his calls for a lucrative crossover fight with Canelo Alvarez and his bagging of a role in the upcoming Black Panther sequel.
And while some believe the UFC's pound-for-pound king may have one foot out the exit door, the same can't be said for Edwards.
The pride of Birmingham told SunSport: "I'm preparing for the best and the so-called pound-for-pound that everyone thinks he is.
"If I think, 'He might not be getting up and doing his runs and he might not be training as hard', that will do me an injustice."
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Underestimating an opponent is something Edwards has never done since taking up MMA aged 17, and he's not about to start ahead of the biggest fight of his life.
He continued: "And I'll be like, 'Okay, I can take it easy.' I'm preparing for the so-called No.1 that everyone claims he is."
Regardless of Usman's preparation, Edwards is confident of putting a beating on the in-form titleholder and becoming Britain's second UFC champion.
He said: "Whether or not he's training or taking me lightly doesn't matter to me, I'm going in to whip him and become a world champion."
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The notion of not being as committed to the sport as he once was has irked Usman, who said this week: “I was in a movie and everyone says, ‘He is Hollywood now.
"When I was in college eating $5 Little Caesars pizza and I was surviving off of that for two days, and eating ramen noodles for a whole week, you know what I did?
"I dreamt of getting to a point where I didn’t have to do that. To where I could walk into any steakhouse wherever I wanted and tell my mom and dad, ‘You guys want to go there? I got you. Let’s go there.
"I have always dreamt of that and always wanted that. So I put the work in to get to that point. I put the work in and I got that.
"But that doesn’t stop me. I want to be bigger than Dwayne Johnson. I’m not bigger than him, so that means I need more work.
"So this notion of people who say, ‘You’re Hollywood now. It’s going to his head.’
"If he’s thinking that, it’s the biggest misconception – it’ll be a short night for him come Saturday night."
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Usman, 35, got the better of Edwards in their first clash seven years ago, taking home a decision victory in his Octagon debut.
Both men haven't tasted defeat since that night in Florida, with Edwards winning nine of his last ten and Usman winning 13 straight.