Sean O'Malley explains how Kamaru Usman accepting problems with knees may have caused loss against Leon Edwards

Kamaru Usman's performance against Leon Edwards at UFC 286 was below the level that fans are used to seeing from him. Sean O'Malley recently weighed in, sharing that the former welterweight champion's knees may have contributed to the loss.

Speaking on his podcast, BrOMalley, the No.2-ranked bantamweight stated:

"I love seeing a striker beat a grappler. I love seeing that and I think he only got taken down four times, nothing really going on the takedowns. I think Kamaru f**ked up talking about how bad his knees were."

Sean O'Malley elaborated by adding:

"I'm like, imagine going into a fight with someone - just a scary motherf**ker, you don't know s**t about them, you just know theyre a bad motherf**ker - but now you're going into a fight with a motherf**ker and you're like, 'oh, he can hardly walk, his knees are so bad'. Imagine how it makes you feel - a lot different so I think he kind of f**ked up talking about how bad his knees are."

Check out Sean O'Malley's comments on Kamaru Usman below (starting at the 8:40 mark):

Kamaru Usman was unable to reclaim the welterweight throne after losing to Leon Edwards via majority decision. While many speculated that the longtime welterweight champion would retire, he has indicated that he will look to work his way back into title contention.

---

Kamaru Usman's performance: What did Israel Adesanya have to say about UFC 286 main event?

Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya entered 2023 in similar positions as both began the year as former champions with five title defenses looking to reclaim their belts. Speaking on his YouTube channel, the No.1-ranked middleweight shared his thoughts on the UFC 286 main event, stating:

"I'm just glad none of them got seriously hurt. I wasn't watching it to score. I scored the first two and then after the point got taken away, I was just like, 'oh, oh, oh, oh', but yeah, it was a close fight. From the fight, like watching it as a fight, as a whole, close fight. I thought it was going to be a draw, but I'm not surprised. I'm not surprised that Leon won."

Check out Israel Adesanya's full comments on UFC 286 below (starting at the 11:54 mark):

While Usman was unable to reclaim the welterweight throne at UFC 286, Adesanya will look for a different outcome when he faces Alex Pereira in the main event of UFC 287. 'The Last Stylebender' has lost three closely contested bouts against 'Poatan', two of which came in kickboxing. He will look to become the first two-time champion in UFC middleweight history.