Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 reportedly being targeted for UFC 278

According to veteran journalist Ariel Helwani, the UFC is planning to schedule the highly-anticipated rematch between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards for the upcoming UFC 278 fight card. The event is expected to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, on August 20.

Helwani suggested that the fight is yet to be officially finalized due to the delay in Usman’s recovery from his hand injury issues. As reported by MMA Mania, Helwani put forth the following statement regarding the Usman-Edwards rematch on his Substack account:

“UFC would like Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2 to be on that card, but that’s still up in the air because of Usman’s hand recovery.”

Additionally, ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto reported that he’d spoken to Usman’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, who claimed that the welterweight kingpin hadn’t been medically cleared yet. There’s no apparent timeframe for Usman’s comeback, but he’s slowly started testing his hand this month after undergoing surgery earlier this year. Okamoto tweeted:

“Spoke to Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) about Kamaru Usman’s hand. He said as of now Kamaru has not been medically cleared and there is no timeframe on his return. Kamaru only started slowly testing the hand this month.”

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Georges St-Pierre hails Kamaru Usman as the top current welterweight but still believes that he isn’t invincible

Speaking to James Lynch, former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre recently weighed in with his take on reigning UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. The MMA legend ranked Usman as the best welterweight in the world today but warned that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ isn’t invincible:

“Nobody is invincible. Everybody can be beat. It’s not the best fighter that wins the fight very often. It’s a question of odds. It’s the fighter that fights the best the night of the fight. And there’s a lot of things that can influence the result of a fight. I believe it is a lot of guy that can beat Usman."

"I do believe, personally, Usman is the best right now in the division. But that doesn’t mean that he is invincible. He needs to always stay on the top of the game. It’s hard to be champion, and it’s even harder to stay champion.”

Watch the interview below:

Intriguingly, GSP named Khamzat Chimaev and Leon Edwards the biggest potential threats to Usman. ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ beat Edwards via unanimous decision at UFC on Fox: Dos Anjos vs. Cowboy 2 in December 2015. Edwards has promised a different outcome when he fights Usman for the latter's UFC welterweight title in their rematch.

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