Kamaru Usman has expressed his thoughts on his KO loss to Leon Edwards at UFC 278 and acknowledged that his opponent “gave me a 20-minute nap.”
Usman was given a head kick by Edwards, knocked to the ground, and lost his position as the champion of the 170-pound division.
Usman also disclosed that he was laughing uncontrollably in the hospital and was perplexed by what had occurred.
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Usman said: “I was good. I watched the fight over, I’m good. I was talking, I talked to Trevor [Wittman], I talked to everyone, because you know, you go back and then you go in the medical tent and they take care of you and all of that. I talked to my family, I hugged everyone, because it was on video and everything. I remember sitting. It was like Leon gave me a 20-minute nap.
“I was laughing hysterically in the hospital because I had to go in to get scanned and all of that, and everything was fine. Immediately I come to, I’m in the ambulance, they’re asking, ‘Do you know where you are?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, Salt Lake City. UFC 278.’ They’re like, ‘What’s your date of birth?’ I answer them. They’re like, ‘Wow, perfect.’ I answered everything perfectly.’
Usman had a clear plan for his clash with Edwards, but he was unable to execute it with conviction.
He said: “What I wanted to do was set him up and I was going to throw the punches that he couldn’t see and I wanted to sit him down and get him out of there,” Usman said.
“I wanted to throw with conviction like I did with [Jorge] Masvidal and get him out of there. What I’m going to do is shake left, shake right, and then I’m going to let it go, but I’ve got to get him moving first, and I didn’t do a great job of that.
“I’m moving, moving, OK, I’ve got him set up, which I really didn’t. I shake left, I shake right, and I’m sitting in an ambulance and they’re asking me, ‘Do you know where you’re at?’ I’m like, ‘What the f***?’.”
Usman is now focusing on a world trilogy with Edwards, with UFC boss Dana White keen for the fight to take place at Wembley Stadium. Usman previously beat Edwards in December 2015.
Source: Guardian