Watch: Henry Cejudo & Kamaru Usman’s manager react live to Leon Edwards’ crowning moment at UFC 278
Henry Cejudo and Ali Abdelaziz, Kamaru Usman’s manager, could not have been further off in their prediction.
This past Saturday, pound-for-pound king Usman took on the reigning welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC 278 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Usman went into the bout as the long-time undefeated titleholder and had been dominant in his run at the top. However, a kick to the head from Edwards blasted Usman off his throne.
Henry Cejudo & Kamaru Usman’s manager react live to Usman vs. Leon Edwards 2
Henry Cejudo & Abdelaziz were both in attendance in the reserved section close to the action at Vivint Arena. Edwards looked like he got a good first round in, being the first person to score a takedown over Usman. The rest of the bout went mostly as expected with Usman dominating his way through Edwards. Usman looked set to come out on top of the judges’ scorecards until the final minute of the fight kicked in.
During the fifth round, Cejudo seemed confident Usman would be victorious and told Abdelaziz, “Hey Ali! Easy money bro, easy money.” Just a minute later, with only 56 seconds left in the entire contest, Edwards shocked the world by knocking Usman out cold with a head kick heard around the world.
You can see a dejected Abdelaziz and a bewildered Cejudo share their reactions below. The footage also captures live reactions from the crowd in that section of the arena.
For the full reaction, you can check out a longer version of the video on Henry Cejudo’s official YouTube channel.
Edwards made the most of a highly-anticipated title shot. He became only the second British fighter ever to win a UFC belt, walking in the footsteps of the first Englishman to hold the promotional gold, former middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
