Francis Ngannou, a former undisputed UFC heavyweight champion, has stated that former welterweight champion Kamaru Usman was unable to “properly” train for his trilogy rubber match with Leon Edwards due to a slew of injuries he sustained leading up to last weekend’s UFC 286 championship main event.

Usman lost to Edwards in the main event of UFC 286 last Saturday night at The O2 Arena in a close, majority decision loss to the reigning welterweight champion.

In August of last year, Edwards knocked Usman out with a high kick in the fifth round at the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Usman lost his undisputed title and his spot as the best fighter in his weight class.

Ngannou, a good friend of fellow former African champion Usman, posted a video on YouTube in which he remarked on Usman’s decisive loss against Edwards, saying that the Auchi native was unable to train well for his trilogy rubber match because of injuries.

 

“Usually, when people get knocked out, they don’t come back in the fight,” Francis Ngannou said following UFC 286. “Like, they will be like wobbly, he (Kamaru Usman) was there before tonight, which is like a lot of step back. I know that he didn’t train [for the fight] – he didn’t have to train properly because of a lot of injuries, but he was there.”

 

Former two-division title challenger Stephen Thompson revealed he would consider fighting Usman as he prepares for his own July return to the Octagon, while the Nigerian has shown interest in a rematch with Edwards.