"He wasn't the guy he became the second time" - Teddy Atlas explains how Leon Edwards' rematch against Kamaru Usman is similar to Dustin Poirier's rematch against Conor McGregor

Leon Edwards, heading into this Kamaru Usman sequel, reminds Teddy Atlas of Dustin Poirier leading into his rematch with Conor McGregor.

On a recent episode of The Fight with Teddy Atlas, the renowned boxing coach offered his respect to both welterweights heading into their August 20 showdown.

While discussing his thoughts on the UFC 278 pay-per-view main event with Usman versus Edwards, Atlas said:

"We've had Edwards on so I really like him a lot. He was a real gentleman, smart guy. He's in the same position as our friend Dustin Poirier... This is a rematch where he had fought Usman I think it was seven years ago...He lost a three round decision and Edwards wasn't the same guy obviously, physically, or mentally, or maturity."

Atlas continued:

"He's [Edwards] improved. Now here's the problem, Usman has improved too. He hasn't stayed status quo... That's what's interesting here. But much like Dustin Poirier, our friend who comes on this show. When he fought McGregor the first time, he wasn't the guy he became the second time. He was much younger, not as mature, not as good quite frankly."

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Kamaru Usman will look to notch his sixth successful title defense while Leon Edwards will hope to tie up his series with 'The Nigerian' Nightmare' and make good on his first ever bid for a UFC strap.

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Leon Edwards and UK title challengers in UFC history

Leon Edwards enters a special group of UFC athletes as he is now one of four fighters from the United Kingdom to have vied for a world title in the UFC.

Dan Hardy contended for the same crown that 'Rocky' will compete for on Saturday night for and did so at UFC 111. 'The Outlaw' fell short against Georges St-Pierre via unanimous decision in March 2010.

Later, Michael Bisping challenged for the middleweight crown against Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 and captured the crown while cementing his place in UFC history as well as within UK mixed martial arts in June 2016.

Darren Till is another product of the United Kingdom who fought for the UFC's welterweight world championship belt. 'The Gorilla' was submitted by Tyron Woodley at UFC 228 in the second round of their September 2018 clash.