UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards 2 Odds, Predictions and Pre-Weigh-In Hype

Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards have been on a collision course since their first meeting in 2015.

The Nigerian Nightmare won that fight via unanimous decision. Since then, he's continued on his rampage through the welterweight division. He's now on a 19-fight win streak that includes wins over Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and Gilbert Burns.

He continues to make a case as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

However, Edwards has proved worthy of another shot at the champion. Since his initial loss to the now-champion, he has ripped off nine straight wins en route to a title shot.

It's a rematch that's a long time coming, but it won't be the only intriguing fight on the card.

The middleweight co-main event features two fighters trying to get back in the title picture in Luke Rockhold and Paulo Costa. Before that, Merab Dvalishvili will get the biggest test of his career in Jose Aldo.

Here's a look at the complete card, along with the schedule, odds and latest buzz before weigh-ins.

Main Card (10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV)

Kamaru Usman (-380) vs. Leon Edwards (+310)

Luke Rockhold (+290) vs. Paulo Costa (-350)

José Aldo (+120) vs. Merab Dvalishvili (-140)

Marcin Tybura (+290) vs. Alexander Romanov (-350)

Tyson Pedro (-740) vs. Harry Hunsucker (+540)

Prelims (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN/ESPN+)

Leonardo Santos (+225) vs. Jared Gordon (-265)

Wu Yanan (+100) vs. Lucie Pudilova (-120)

Sean Woodson (-330) vs. Luis Saldana (+275)

Miranda Maverick (-560) vs. Shanna Young (+430)

Early Prelims (6 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+)

A.J. Fletcher (-155) vs. Ange Loosa (+135)

Amir Albazi (-475) vs. Francisco Figueiredo (+380)

Aori Qileng (-135) vs. Jay Perrin (+115)

Daniel Da Silva (+140) vs. Victor Altamirano (-165)

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

There's no doubt that fighting can become a war of attrition. Time and time again we've seen a fighter become less durable over time, lose their fire due to a busy schedule or the cumulative damage of too many firefights.

With the 35-year-old Usman coming off fights against Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington in 2021, Leon Edwards believes that attrition is going to be a factor in their rematch.

“Now is the perfect time,” Edwards said, per Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated. “He’s been in so many wars. He’s been hurt by Colby, hurt by Gilbert. His body is showing that. I’m fresher, I’m bigger, and I’m excited to prove to the world that I’m No. 1.”

It's important to note that the two fights that Edwards mentions (the rematch with Covington and his fight with Burns) were both wins for the champion. Usman got hit by both fighters but was never knocked down.

He knocked out Burns and won a unanimous decision over Covington.

Usman is still getting better every time out, and Edwards might be practicing some wishful thinking.

Prediction: Usman via fourth-round TKO

This is likely Luke Rockhold's last chance to be relevant in the middleweight division. At 37 years old with losses in three of his last four fights, he's running out of chances.

Even a former champion has a shelf-life as a relevant fighter. However, a win over Paulo Costa could spark things for the California-native.

Costa won't just be fighting Rockhold, but the narrative that he's been broken by Israel Adesanya. After losing to the reigning champion by second-round TKO, Marvin Vettori handed him a unanimous-decision loss.

Rockhold believes he has the tools to give Borrachina his third consecutive loss.

“I think he’s a great matchup for me; I love it,” Rockhold said, per E. Spencer Kyte of UFC.com. “I think it’s a guy that I can expose, I can tag, and I can break. I think I can beat him in so many ways, and all he’s got is a shot."

Rockhold has never been short on confidence. That hasn't meant wins recently, though. Rockhold has been knocked out by Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz in his last two fights and hasn't fought since July 2019.

Costa might be struggling, but that's a lot for Rockhold to overcome.

Prediction: Costa via second-round TKO

José Aldo will go down in history as one of the greatest featherweights of all time. He was the defining fighter of the WEC before it was folded into the UFC, and he dominated the 145-pound division right up until Conor McGregor ended his run.

But the legend still has another major accomplishment he'd like to add to his resume before hanging up the gloves for good.

"You can give me Merab Dvalishvili. He’s a really tough guy, well-ranked, that nobody wants to fight. I’ll beat him, and then I’ll win the belt—it’s already written," Aldo told Combate (h/t Lucas Rezende of Bloody Elbow).

Aldo also noted that he's talked about retiring at 35 years old in the past. Now that he'll be 36 in September, he seems to have backed off of that age being a hard and fast rule.

Standing in the way of a title shot for Aldo is an ascending contender in Dvalishvili. His unrelenting grappling attack has proved to be too much for most of his opponents. The Georgian has a seven-fight win streak and finally got a finish against Marlon Moraes last time out.

This is a tough matchup to predict. We haven't seen Aldo in with a grappler like Dvalishvili in a long time. We haven't seen Dvalishvili match up with a striker quite like the former champ.

Prediction: Dvalishvili via decision

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