Dana White confirms Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman 3 for UFC 286 and announces lightweight co-main event

Leon Edwards will get to defend his welterweight title on home turf.

After Edwards became the UFC’s new welterweight champion back in August with a fifth-round KO over Kamaru Usman, White was adamant about having ‘Rocky’ defend the strap in England. The promotion then officially made UFC 286 in London, England but speculation began that Usman was dealing with a hand injury and he wouldn’t be able to fight on March 18.

However, on Saturday after UFC Vegas 67, White officially announced Edwards vs. Usman 3 as the main event of UFC 286. He also announced Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev will serve as the co-main event of the pay-per-view.

Leon Edwards (20-3 and one No Contest) is coming off the KO win over Usman to become the new champ to extend his unbeaten streak to 11. His last loss was to Usman by decision back in 2015. After the loss, the Brit picked up notable wins over Nate Diaz, Rafael dos Anjos, Gunnar Nelson, Vicente Luque, and Donald Cerrone among others.

Kamaru Usman (20-2) had his first UFC loss when he was upset by Edwards to lose his welterweight title. Before the setback, he was 15-0 in the UFC with five title defenses and has notable wins over Colby Covington, twice, Jorge Masvidal, twice, Tyron Woodley, Gilbert Burns, and dos Anjos among others.

As for the co-main event, Dana White confirmed that Justin Gaethje will take on Rafael Fiziev in a lightweight banger.

Gaethje hasn’t fought since UFC 274 last May when he suffered a submission loss to Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title. Fiziev, meanwhile, is currently on a six-fight winning streak and coming off a KO victory over dos Anjos in his first UFC main event.

With Edwards-Usman 3 and Gaethje-Fiziev official, UFC 286 is as follows:

• Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman
• Justin Gaethje vs. Rafael Fiziev
• Marvin Vettori vs. Roman Dolidze
• Daniel Rodriguez vs. Gunnar Nelson
• Jennifer Maia vs. Casey O’Neill
• Joanne Wood vs. Luana Carolina
• Jake Hadley vs. Malcolm Gordon
• Jai Herbert vs. L’udovit Klein
• Lerone Murphy vs. Nataniel Wood
• Veronica Macedo vs. Julianna Miller

Who do you think will win these two fights between Edwards-Usman and Gaethje-Fiziev?