In a moment that will forever define his career, Leon Edwards saw an opening.
At that point, Edwards should have been dejected. Kamaru Usman controlled their main-event fight at UFC 278, imposing his will in the second, third, and fourth round. Usman was less than 60 seconds away from a unanimous decision that would have extended his title reign. And that is when fate, in the form of a left high kick, intervened.
“Kamaru is very boxing-oriented in the way he fights, so I knew I could come around the corner with kicks,” Edwards said. “That’s a kick we drilled in training camp.