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Dan Hardy recently stated that Kamaru Usman could earn a knockout finish against Leon Edwards at UFC 278 if the Englishman is not careful.
During an appearance on The MMA Hour, 'The Outlaw' noted that Edwards caused a lot of problems for Usman when they clashed in 2015. 'Rocky' was also quite competitive in the grappling aspect of the fight.
"I give him a good chance. He caused all kinds of issues for Usman the last fight. He didn't take any damage. He was able to be competitive enough with his takedown defense to slow the fight right down."
However, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' has improved his striking leaps and bounds since then and has earned knockout finishes against Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns.
Hardy pointed out that Usman will be fancying his chances of securing another KO, especially after seeing Nate Diaz hurt Leon Edwards at UFC 263.
"I think the difference in this one is Usman's confidence in striking is in a different place entirely. You look at what he did to Masvidal and Glbert Burns, you think to yourself, he could quite easily do the same thing to Leon. Especially after we saw Nate hurt him. That's the thing that would stick out on my mind."
Watch Dan Hardy talk about Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards:
Kamaru Usman will look to defend his welterweight title for the sixth time against Leon Edwards
Kamaru Usman won the title back at UFC 235 with a dominant win against Tyron Woodley. His first title defense came against Colby Covington at UFC 245, where he secured a fifth-round TKO win.
A decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 followed, before Usman stopped Gilbert Burns in his third title defense at UFC 258 last February.
In his rematch against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' earned a vicious knockout finish. He defended the title for the fifth time in his rematch with Colby Covington at UFC 268.
Usman is now set to take on Leon Edwards in yet another rematch at UFC 278. With a win, he can add to his claim of being the greatest welterweight of all time.
