After much anticipation we are now just weeks away from UFC 278 at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Set for August 20th, Dana White has constructed a stacked card to say the least, headlined by a Welterweight championship bout between Leon Edwards and reigning champ Kamaru Usman.
Edwards’ long-awaited chance at gold at 170lbs comes following a 9-fight win streak, discounting the no contest between him and Belal Muhammad in March of last year. On his road to challenging for the title he has beaten some of the biggest names in the UFC such as Rafael Dos Anjos, Donald Cerrone and most recently Nate Diaz. The British fighter has had his fair share of bad luck in the last couple of years however, seeing a string of high-profile bouts cancelled. Fights with Khamzat Chimaev, former champ Tyron Woodley and long-time rival Jorge Masvidal were all cancelled due to the coronavirus and an injury to Masvidal.
Usman on the other hand has torn through the welterweight division since his debut in 2015, before eventually prying the gold from the hands of Woodley back in 2019. He has since defended his title five times, with four of those defences coming in high-profile series’ against Colby Covington and Jorge Masvidal. The current 170lb champ is already featuring in many MMA fans’ conversation for the ‘GOAT’, and he will enter this fight as the sports betting favourite. With that being said, Edwards will arguably be the fiercest competition he has faced so far in his three-year reign.
However, Usman already has a W to his name against Edwards. The two fought a while back in 2015, Usman’s second fight in the UFC and Edwards’ fourth. The three-round fight ended in a unanimous decision win for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’, handing Edwards just his 3rd defeat across his entire career. The Jamaican-born fighter has improved dramatically since then though, and it was after their first meeting that ‘Rocky’ went on his nine-fight tear.
As if that was not enough for fight fans, the rest of the card is stacked with some high-profile scraps. Let’s take a look at the rest of the main card.
Jose Aldo vs Merab Dvalishvili
Record breaking former featherweight champ Jose Aldo’s resurgence over the last 18 months since moving down the weights has been remarkable. After an incredible nine title defences as featherweight champ, the Brazilian infamously lost his title in just 13 seconds after being KO’d by Conor McGregor. Although he would win the interim title in his next fight, the King of Rio would then go 2-5 in his next seven fights.
For many, the writing seemed to be on the wall for Aldo and it seemed only a matter of time before he was cut from the promotion. Nevertheless, a trio of wins in his last three fights at bantamweight now have him firmly in the conversation as the next title challenger should he get through Dvalishvili. The Georgian sambo-style fighter will be no pushover though, as proven by his current seven-fight win streak. Both fighters will be looking to surge up the bantamweight rankings in their search for a chance at Aljamain Sterling’s 135lb title.
Paulo Costa vs Luke Rockhold
Luke Rockhold will make his return to the octagon after over three years of inactivity. The former Middleweight champ seemed to have the world at his feet after he dominated Chris Weidman to taste gold in 2015. However, that all came crashing down following a shock KO loss to MMA-icon Michael Bisping in his first defence, despite Bisping taking the fight on just three weeks’ notice after Weidman pulled out of the rematch through injury.
Rockhold would go on to win his next fight but would be viciously KO’d in his next two via Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz respectively. Costa on the other hand will also come into this fight on a two-fight slide. He was dismantled by Israel Adesanya in a middleweight title match in 2020 and then comfortably outpointed by Marvin Vettori a year later. The latter was marred in controversy after Costa’s shambolic weight cut, or lack thereof, when he stepped on the scales 25lbs heavier than the 180lb limit.
For that, Costa forfeited 20% of his fight purse and laboured to a disappointing loss. Weight issues aside, Costa has scary punching-power and the biggest talking point leading up to this bout will be whether Rockhold has been able to remould his proverbial glass-jaw during his three years off.
UFC 278 is sure to be another barnburner of a PPV from the promotion and with powerful strikers like Usman and Costa on the card we could see our fair share of finishes. Be sure to tune in and back your choices for one of the most exciting cards of the year.
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