A welterweight championship trilogy bout between Leon
Edwards and Kamaru
Usman is official for UFC
286.
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UFC president Dana White announced the booking during the UFC Fight
Night 217 post-fight press conference on Saturday. UFC 286 takes
place at the O2 Arena in London on March 18 and also includes a
lightweight tilt between Justin
Gaethje and Rafael
Fiziev.
Edwards claimed welterweight gold in shocking fashion at UFC 278,
when he knocked out Usman with a head kick 4:04 into the fifth
round of their headlining clash this past August. The Englishman
appeared to be on his way to a decision defeat prior to the finish.
“Rocky” is unbeaten in his last 11 promotional appearances.
Usman, meanwhile, saw a 19-bout professional winning streak snapped
in the defeat to Edwards. He claimed the 170-pound throne with a
five-round verdict over Tyron
Woodley at UFC 235 and then successful defended the belt five
times before the upset loss at UFC 278. Usman previously defeated
Edwards via unanimous decision in their first meeting at UFC on Fox
17 in December 2015.