UFC 286: Leon Edwards-Kamaru Usman Official For London

The third encounter between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman is now official for UFC 286.

Edwards will defend his welterweight title against Usman on Saturday, March 18 from The O2 in London, England. Also, Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev square off in a lightweight contest.

The UK’s second UFC champion, Edwards (20-3, fighting out of Birmingham, England) returns to the Octagon looking to defend his title after a stunning knockout of Kamaru Usman last August.

Usman (20-2, fighting out of Florida, United States by way of Auchi, Nigeria) will be focused on avenging his sole UFC defeat at the hands of his next opponent.

Gaethje (23-4, fighting out of Colorado, United States), the No. 3 lightweight, will be hoping to get his name back in title contention with a big win in London. Fiziev (12-1, fighting out of Phuket, Thailand by way of Baku, Azerbaijan) is on a six-fight win streak and is coming off a ‘Performance of the Night’ knockout of former lightweight champion Rafael Dos Anjos last September.

Additional bouts on the card include

* No. 4 ranked middleweight contender Marvin Vettori (18-6-1, fighting out of Mezzocorona, Italy) takes on No. 8 ranked Roman Dolidze (11-1, fighting out of Batumi, Georgia) in what should be a high-intensity clash.

* No. 15 ranked Welshman Jack Shore (16-1, fighting out of Abergavenny, Wales) faces Finland’s Makwan Amirkhani (17-8, fighting out of Turku, Finland) in a featherweight match up.

* Undefeated Muhammad Mokaev (8-0, fighting out of Manchester, England by way of Dagestan) made his UFC debut in March last year in England’s capital. He returns to the O2 as No. 13 ranked flyweight to take on Brazil’s own Jafel Filho (14-2, fighting out of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).

* UFC veteran and submission specialist, Gunnar Nelson (18-5-1, fighting out of Reykjavik, Iceland), will face off against heavy handed Daniel Rodriguez (17-3, fighting out of Las Vegas, Nevada) in an all-action welterweight fight.

* In an all-British battle, Nathaniel Wood (19-5, fighting out of London, England) meets Lerone Murphy (11-0-1, fighting out of Manchester, England) in a matchup of rising prospects looking to make their mark in the featherweight division.

* Birmingham’s Jake Hadley (9-1, fighting out of Birmingham, England) will look to maintain his reputation as one of Britain’s most promising contenders in a collision with Malcolm Gordon (14-6, fighting out of Ontario, Canada).

* Scotland’s Joanne Wood (15-8, fighting out of Glasgow, Scotland) takes on Luana Carolina (8-3, fighting out Sao Paulo, Brazil) in a fiery contest between Muay Thai specialists.

* UFC debutant Christian Leroy Duncan (7-0, fighting out of Gloucester, England) plans to make his mark on the middleweight division as he faces Dusko Todorovic (12-3, fighting out of Belgrade, Serbia).

* Edwards’ teammate Jai Herbert (12-4, Wolverhampton, England) returns to the Octagon to lock horns with Ludovit Klein (19-4, Nitra Region, Slovakia).

* Dana White’s Contender Series alumni Sam Patterson (10-1-1, fighting out of Watford, England) takes on Yanal Ashmoz (6-0, fighting out of New Jersey, USA, by way of Israel) in a lightweight bout.

* Juliana Miller (3-1, fighting out of California, USA) faces Veronica Macedo (6-4-1, fighting out of Poznan, Poland) in a women’s flyweight bout.