I don’t know about you, but I wasn’t expecting to see Edwards take Usman down in the first, take his back and the go for a rear naked choke!
Props to Usman tho, masterclass up to the KO, Rocky Edwards is such a high level striker, you can’t give him an inch.
How did everyone feel about the card and the result? That Rockhold v Costa fight was bonkers 😂.
Here’s a reminder of what went down on this fight card...

Next UFC is UFC278: Usman v Edwards 2 - Official Discussion Thread
Lee ・ Aug 14 ・ 3 min read
And here’s the post fight press conference.
Top comments (18)
Sums up the main event in one pic
i've just been avoiding social media ALL day and literally just saw the KO
oh my GOOOOOODDDDDDDDD
I know right! I was about to switch it off 🤷♂️
Am not gonna lie… I’d almost switched off myself
That’s a money shot. Amazing, where’s that from?
Reddit 😂
Here’s another (post fight locker room)
2 main event stoppages back to back with the same technique down to the stance it was thrown from. Gotta love that. It's the era of the jab, straight, same side headkick
100% !! Interesting listening to Edwards talk about practicing that in camp. Says Usman has very traditional boxing technique, side to side, bobbing and weaving, total open for that one.
yeah and was that like the first time he threw the strike? i've definitely seem him use it effectively before but seems it took him all night to bring that one out or strikes like it
I saw this too!!! Why don’t more strikers capitalize on it?
I keep hearing on the podcasts that the UFC has done Leon Edwards dirty for years with his long wait for a title shot and is short removal from the rankings. I know that stuff happened but does anyone know why Leon might not be popular with the UFC brass? What started it all? Or even if there is an issue or it was all just down to bad luck… People are saying that if he didn’t win this, then he had zero chance of getting another shot.
What on earth did he do?
I also missed this golden nugget during UFC 278 fight week, some top content as always from BT Sport
Here’s some post fight octagon side footage. Gob smacked..
Ariels post fight ringer show on UFC 278, worth a listen…
Outside of the main event I wasn't super thrilled really.
Lots of people saying Aldo is washed which I don't think is really true. He has the odd inactive performance every now and again. His corner told him at the end of Round 1 not to throw if he wasn't certain he'd land, and then at the end of Round 2 were like "why aren't you throwing punches?" which seems very self-defeating. I'd love to see Aldo vs Cruz now as I think it's super winnable for both fighters. Would be a spectacular fight night main event. Merab is cool, guess we'll see who he gets matchup with. Would be a tough fight for most of the guys above him imo, Aldo strikes me as the toughest of his matchups although Cory is notoriously good at punishing the level change so that might be fun.
Rockhold vs Costa wasn't the epic battle people are making it out to be imo. Really quite disappointing fight but we'll let Luke Rockhold off as he's old and hasn't been active for three years. Nice to see him retire, despite the cringe he seems like a cool guy and I hope he enjoys whatever he does from hereon out.
I think this fight was designed as a gimme for Costa. He was being given an old man with a suspect chin and Costa is billed as a power punching KO artist. I think most of us expected him to put Luke away early, but he gassed all the same and just looked generally bad. I'm sure the altitude had a lot to do with it but he just looked bad outside of cardio as well. I'd argue his stock drops from this performance more than it rises. Would be good to see him vs Whittaker or Strickland next
Yeah there’s loads of fights I’d still like to see Aldo in and he still seems to enjoy competing, he doesn’t look old or washed up to me.
Personally I’ve warmed to Rockhold as he closed his career out, I think he was hiding how much of a nut job he was before, but now he seems to just let it flow a bit more. Agree tho - costa had so many opportunities to turn up the heat against a tired and drained Rockhold.. Weird fight but the audience found it very entertaining.
Then we got into the main event and I was energised by the end of round one, I was impressed Leon had round one in the bag, especially with that surprise take down - all that evaporated towards the end of the fight then BOOM, Leon lands that left high kick from a left jab feint.
Overall it was a bit underwhelming (other than the Edwards KO) and I felt that the event was hosted in a weird place.
I really wish they'd stop doing events at altitude. Time and time again we've seen fighters gas within a round and nobody wants to see two guys with good cardio gasp for air for 3/5 rounds. Feels like the UFC learns this lesson every time it goes to altitude and suffers every time for it