5 UFC welterweights who could defeat Kamaru Usman

#2 Shavkat Rakhmonov

The undefeated Kazakh fighter seems unstoppable in his current form. He is a towering welterweight, standing at 6 feet 1 inch in height while possessing a reach of 77 inches, surpassing even Kamaru Usman's reach of 76 inches.

Rakhmonov often starts every fight from the outside, using his reach and distance management to dictate the pace of his bouts.

He stands just beyond his opponent's kicking range, which would neutralize the effectiveness of Kamaru Usman's jab as the Nigerian is not a prolific kicker and will have no other distance management tools.

Whenever Rakhmonov stands a few inches closer, now only beyond his foe's punching range, he throws various non-committal strikes and feints to assess his opponent's reactions.

This enables him to make easy reads based on his foe's preferred reactions to specific fakes and feints, while allowing the Kazakh phenom to easily hop out of reach if his opponent lunges forward.

Once Rakhmonov is comfortable with the amount of reads he's made, he throws his strikes with pinpoint precision as their trajectory and purpose are informed by his opponent's reactions.

This renders him a highly efficient counter-striker who can pace himself while simultaneously devastating his foes by landing blows with such accuracy that they usually stun everyone he faces.

This will all but neutralize Kamaru Usman's striking, forcing the Nigerian to rely almost solely on his wrestling. However, as Rakhmonov stands on the outside, he forces opponents to shoot in on his hips from too far away, allowing him to easily feed them his hip, overhook one of their arms, and shove their head down to his ankle to hop out of takedowns.

Lastly, the Kazakh fighter is comfortable wherever the fight takes place, boasting a perfect eight wins by submission and eight by knockout.

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#1 Leon Edwards

Another of Kamaru Usman's former foes, Leon Edwards is set to take on the reigning welterweight champion in a rematch scheduled for UFC 278. Most fans remember the loss but might not recall exactly how the 1st bout transpired.

While Usman won, the matchup was more competitive than often claimed. 'Rocky' was by far the superior striker and was able to limit the amount of damage his foe dealt on the ground until the Nigerian's superior cardio allowed him to take over the fight.

Both fighters have improved since that fight, and the British-Jamaican has become extraordinarily difficult to take down. As a striker, he often fights from southpaw, using his lead hand to trap the lead hands of orthodox foes to neutralize their jab.

This will nullify the effectiveness of Usman's jab and force the Nigerian to switch stances. If he forces the reigning champion to fight from a southpaw stance, Edwards' superiority will be even more pronounced if Kamaru Usman attempts to throw southpaw jabs.

Against southpaws eager to jab with him, Edwards often relies on looping cross-counters over the top.

While Kamaru Usman remains the better wrestler, 'Rocky' has become defensively impregnable. Given that many of the Nigerian's takedowns come from the clinch, he will struggle against Edwards, who excels there.

The welterweight contender often uses his forearm to frame it against his foe's jaw, shoving against it to create space. As a wrestler, Kamaru Usman will likely attempt to turn at an inward angle to improve his chances for a takedown.

Unfortunately, he will turn into a Leon Edwards elbow from his foe's non-framing side as this is how the British-Jamaican often catches opponents with elbow strikes in the clinch. He convinces them to turn towards him as he steps across them to land hard elbows.