After success of UFC 278, Dana White says likely return ‘next year’
Salt Lake City, UT (August 21, 2022) — With one kick, Leon Edwards changed the modern face of UFC, ending the longest active winning streak in the promotion and the second-longest streak in UFC history.
Kamaru Usman, the defending welterweight champion, never saw it coming.
Edwards knocked out Usman with a left high kick in the fifth round with 56 seconds left of UFC 278, toppling the Nigerian Nightmare’s 16-match winning streak and adding to the new welterweight champion’s now 11 match reign Saturday night in front of a sold-out crowd at Vivint Arena.
“Everybody knows my path,” Edwards said after the match, the UFC title belt draped over his shoulder as he addressed the media. “I’ve been saying all week that I was going to do this.
“To be born in Jamaica in a wood house, to now being here in Utah as the UFC world champion, it’s amazing.”
Hope you didn’t leave the arena early, as in with a minute left in what looked like a “lopsided” Usman win, as UFC CEO Dana White said. That’s the beauty of the sport.
“The crowd was incredible tonight,” White said of the Salt Lake fight fans. “You can put this crowd up there with anybody tonight. They were fired up, they were into it. The arena was 60% full at the first fight of the night.”
The fighters agreed.
“Salt Lake City people are amazing,” said Paulo Costa, the rising middleweight star who sent Luke Rockhold into retirement with a win by unanimous decision. “The atmosphere in the arena was so intense. I could feel the good energy when I came here; I heard the people very loud, every single fight.
“When I was getting into the arena, I felt the energy. It felt great. To me, it’s very special. I think this sport needs this audience as part of the sport. I like this energy, and I hope to always fight with an audience of people like the one from Salt Lake City.”
Edwards came out fast, peppering Usman with a flurry near the end of the first round and even knocking down the welterweight champion to end the period.
But the Nigerian Nightmare responded with a vengeance, sealing the only takedown of the second period and limiting his challenger to 20 strikes in 25 attempts. A visibly exhausted Edwards struggled through two more rounds.
But one blow in the fifth changed everything.
Edwards’ leg kick just before the 4:04 mark of the fifth round landed perfectly on Usman’s face, and the 35-year-old Nigerian international toppled backwards. Almost before he hit the ground, the referee stopped the matched, assured Usman couldn’t continue — and Edwards’ corner vaulted over the cage and set off pandemonium in the arena during the UFC first-ever pay-per-view event in Utah history.
In the co-main event, Costa cruised to a 30-27, 30-27, 30-27 unanimous decision over Rockhold, leaving the 37-year-old Santa Cruz, California, native bloodied and exhausted from the opening round.
Costa’s sweep of the judges’ scorecards snapped a two-fight skid to reaffirm the No. 6 middleweight fighter as one of the best in UFC. Following the contest, an emotional Rockhold hinted toward his retirement as he fought back tears and received a standing ovation from the sold-out crowd at Vivint Arena.
“I’ve been through so much the last few years,” Rockhold told ringside analyst Joe Rogan in a rare post-loss interview. “Thank you, fighting. Thank you, UFC. Thank you, Joe. I (expletive) can’t do this (expletive) any more. I gave it my all.”
If it’s truly the end, the former titleholder will end his career on a three-match slide, but as one of the more entertaining fighters of UFC’s modern era.
He hadn’t fought in over three years prior to returning to the Octagon in Salt Lake City in an attempt to snap a five-match winless skid. Outspoken and brazen, Rockhold is a past champion of Strikeforce and UFC, a key figure in the rise of American Kickboxing Academy in combat sports.
His career includes wins over Chris Weidman, Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping and Ronald Souza, among other notables.
“I had to give him credit for the last fight of his career,” said Costa, who was unceremoniously drug-tested in the middle of the night before Friday’s weigh-ins — a moment White said would “never happen again.” “He’s a good fighter, a former champion. He has my respect.
“I thought when I saw him put the hands on the knees and show how tired he was, I thought maybe he would not finish into the third round. But in some way, he was there. Maybe I didn’t pressure a lot and let him survive a little bit.”
In the promotion’s first event in Salt Lake City since an underwhelming UFC Fight Night in 2016 that drew just 6,689 fans, the reception was a total reversal. A lot has changed in Utah, in UFC, and in the world in six years; but in the growing realm of combat sports and mixed martial arts, it’s been mostly positive on the Wasatch Front.
The promotion didn’t extend an offer to a local fighter for UFC 278 — only Layton native Court McGee, who fights out of Orem and was on the 2016 card at Vivint Arena, is currently under contract while recovering from an injury suffered in his last bout in Austin, Texas. But the fans still showed up — a sellout crowd of 18,324 tickets.
That extends the UFC’s record of 23 consecutive sellouts. But perhaps more importantly, the event grossed just under $4.3 million in revenue — an arena record and a veritable success.
Good enough to come back to Utah?
“Probably next year,” White said.
As in, 2023?
“Yeah,” he replied shortly.
In many ways, it was just a matter of time for the fighters to come to Salt Lake City, too. Many of them have been to Utah, for recreation or other purposes — though a few, like headliner Edwards, joked leading up to the event that he couldn’t locate the Salt Lake Valley on a map when he was first told his shot at Usman’s belt would come on the Wasatch Front.
Safe to say he knows where Salt Lake City is now.
“It’s a beautiful city,” Edwards said after his third win by knockout in the final two minutes of a match. “Since being here, I ended up in an AirBnB by the mountains and went hiking in a little outdoor spot.
“I think the altitude definitely affected my performance. Even when I came out here two weeks ago, my body reacted the way it didn’t react in training. But it’s a beautiful city. Tomorrow I’d like to enjoy the food it can offer a bit more.”
With little exception, fighters had nothing but praise for Utah and its MMA community.
“It’s beautiful,” said Jared “Flash” Gordon, who won the lightweight bout by unanimous decision over Leonardo Santos. “I’ve snowboarded here before in Park City. This is my first time in Salt Lake City, and it’s a beautiful city.
“We got lost for 4-5 hours the other day when we went hiking. My coach Jason was wearing Vans with no socks on. It was getting dark and we were getting tired. It was wild.”
Fighters in the red corner won 3-of-7 bouts in the preliminary cards that led into the main card that opened with Australia’s Tyson Pedro knocking out American Harry Hunsucker in just 1 minute and 5 seconds.
In the other fights on the main card, Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia defeated Brazilian legend Jose Aldo via unanimous decision, despite a largely pro-Aldo crowd that chanted his name repeatedly throughout the three-round bout.
Aldo and Dvalishvili embraced after the fight, moments before the 35-year-old Aldo emotionally clung to his wife in a tunnel underneath the arena.
“This is a dream,” the Georgian said. “I know Jose Aldo, I know what fighter he is. But this is our job, and we have to do our best. I applaud Jose Aldo, but I have to do everything for me.”
In a women’s bantamweight fight, Lucie Pudilova of Czechia — who briefly left the UFC in 2020 — won her third-straight fight with a second-round TKO over China’s Wu Yanan.
“I am just so happy to be here,” Pudilova said ringside after her dominant win. “I can’t believe I am (back) in the UFC.”
In the opening bout of the main card, Tyson Pedro easily dispatched Harry Hunsucker via first-round knockout, an entertaining bout that lasted just 1:05.
Pedro needed just six strikes to leave his mark on UFC 278, leaving the American Hunsucker dazed and bloodied at Vivint Arena.
The 30-year-old native of Penrith, Australia, landed a stunning blow moments just over a minute into his light heavyweight bout with Harry Hunsucker, and moments later was being proclaimed champion.