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After months of waiting, Leon Edwards is finally scheduled to fight Kamaru Usman for the UFC welterweight title. The UFC announced the match up will take place at UFC 278 on August 20 in Salt Lake City, Utah. That's just one month after the promotion's triumphant return to the U.K. on July 23, prompting questions as to whether 'Rocky' versus 'The Nigerian Nightmare' was ever considered for London.
In a new interview with The MMA Hour, Leon Edwards confirmed it was discussed. He said:
"Yeah, that was mentioned to me as well, that they were trying to change the O2 [Arena] to a pay-per-view. But to do that you'd need to have it at four in the morning. I did it before when I fought in Manchester. Bisping was defending his belt. It was four or five in the morning, the card was. Couldn't change the O2 to that time, now here we are."
Watch Leon Edwards discuss his title shot against Kamaru Usman below:
The UFC has a hard rule when it comes to their big numbered pay-per-views: they are almost always scheduled for time zones in the United States, where the majority of the promotion's pay-per-view revenue comes from. That has led to some strange start times for international events. Most recently, UFC 275 prelims in Singapore kicked off at 7AM local time, with the pay-per-view starting at 10AM.
Things are even worse for U.K. and Europe. As Edwards mentioned, UFC 204 in Manchester, England started extremely late. The prelims began at 11PM, and the main card didn't start until 3AM. The O2 Arena in London wasn't willing to run an event that late, and it's probably better for U.K. fans that they refused.
Leon Edwards didn't think Kamaru Usman would accept a fight in the U.K.
Even with the UFC considering the option of having Edwards vs. Usman in the United Kingdom, Edwards wasn't getting his hopes up. He just didn't see the welterweight champion Usman agreeing to fight in enemy territory like that. He told The MMA Hour:
"I was in doubt, like 'He wouldn't come over here to fight me.' If he did it would have been fantastic for the U.K. and over here. But I had doubts on him taking that, I can't see him saying yes and coming over and fighting unless they pay him stupid money."
Now Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman will face off in Salt Lake City, Utah. That's neutral ground for the most part, although it is somewhat close to Usman's college state of Nebraska.
Watch Kamaru Usman explain why Ben Askren calls him 'Marty from Nebraska' below:
