According to For Kamaru Usman’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, Leon Edwards will take on the Nigerian nightmare in a rematch against Usman for the UFC welterweight title in March, quashing reports he won’t make it to the fight.

Edwards became the second British fighter to lift UFC gold when he dramatically dethroned the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ in August.

Since Edwards’ win, a trilogy fight between the pair has been scheduled for the UFC’s first British pay-per-view bid since 2016, at UFC 286 on March 18.

However, fans’ hopes of seeing the two titans clash in the Octagon were all but dashed when Usman was photographed wearing a hand cast during a regional MMA event in December.

Despite the apparent injury, Usman’s manager Abdelaziz took to Twitter to refute claims the UFC was actively seeking a replacement opponent and insisted Usman is “ready to play” but made no reference to the date. March proposal.

“Please, enough of the rumors, Kamaru is next to fight Leon, he is ready to go. We will bring this belt back to where it belongs,” he wrote.

Heading toward near-certain defeat on the judges’ scorecards with time running out in the fifth and final round, Edwards landed a perfect kick to dethrone the long-standing champion at UFC 278, earning the UFC 2022 Knockout of the Year award. of Sportsmail in the process.

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