Edwards v Usman UFC 286 preview & best bets – March 19, 2023

At UFC 286 this weekend in London, current welterweight champion Leon Edwards and former pound-for-pound champion Kamaru Usman will go head-to-head for the third time. Despite fighting at home and being the current champion, Edwards is a $2.92 outsider, while Usman at $1.40 is the clear favourite with the best online bookmakers.

Edwards v Usman betting preview & stats

Let’s go back to August 21, 2022. Usman, who is the UFC pound-for-pound and welterweight champion, has odds of -360 going into this battle, while Edwards’ odds are +300. Through the first four rounds of the battle, Usman had a 39-37 advantage over Edwards according to the judges. As the fifth round begins it is abundantly clear that Usman will add another win to his record if this goes the distance. Edwards, with one minute left on the clock, head-kicks Usman to produce the 2022 UFC knockout of the year.

Born in Jamaica but raised in England, Leon Edwards made his professional mixed martial arts debut in 2010, defeating Carl Booth via armbar submission in round two. Edwards presently has a 20-3-0 record. The current champion enters this bout on a nine-fight winning run; Kamaru Usman defeated him most recently on December 20, 2015.

Edwards has been steadily and unobtrusively moving up the ranks, and with 11 wins and only two losses, he is one of the most underrated champions to ever fight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Edwards is a versatile fighter who has no trouble going the distance, as Usman discovered the hard way, but he has demonstrated that the strength in his attacks is something that should not be taken lightly. A quarter of his victories have come in the first round, and another quarter have ended in later rounds. If he wants to win this one, Edwards must stop the fight from getting to the judges and defeat Usman by knockout for the second time.

Read: UFC main card 286 full betting preview and best bets

Kamaru Usman is now 35 years old and holds a record of 20 wins and two losses. The Nigerian is one of the top welterweights the UFC has ever seen fight. There were those who thought he would surpass Georges St. Pierre to become the best fighter of all time, before his match with Edwards. Usman will want to reassure his supporters that he will not let another head-kick go unnoticed and that he has only experienced a minor setback to be the greatest welterweight of all time.

Looking at the previous fight, Usman was in complete control of the battle before the knockout, including the following:

• 189 total strikes to Edwards’ 64;
• 83 significant strikes to Edwards’ 55;
• Five takedowns to Edwards’ one.

Edwards v Usman 3 prediction & best bet

Unless Edwards can score another knockout, Usman should prevail by decision. Load up on that outcome at $2.10 and enjoy what should be a fascinating tussle between two gun welterweights.

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