UFC 286 weigh-ins: Leon Edwards, Kamaru Usman and back-up Colby Covington make weight
Re-live updates from London, where Edwards defends the welterweight belt against Usman on Saturday
Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman made weight for their UFC 286 main event at Friday’s weigh-ins, while Colby Covington emerged as a surprise back-up for the welterweight title fight in London.
Usman, who lost the belt to Edwards with a stunning knockout in August, was the first fighter to tip the scales, and the Nigerian-American came in at 170lbs. Jamaican-born Edwards emerged later, also at 170lbs, but not before former interim champion Covington shocked those in attendance by weighing in as a back-up. The American, who twice failed to dethrone Usman, also came in at 170lbs.
Saturday’s main event at the O2 Arena will be the third meeting between Edwards and Usman, with the latter having outpointed “Rocky” in 2015.
Meanwhile, the lightweight co-main event between Justin Gaethje and Rafael Fiziev was also made official, with both men tipping the scales at 156lbs. The only fighter to miss weight was flyweight Malcolm Gordon, who was 129.5lbs – three-and-a-half pounds over the limit – and did not make a second attempt ahead of his bout with Jake Hadley.
Re-live updates from the UFC 286 weigh-ins, below. Click here to subscribe to The Independent’s Sport YouTube channel for all the latest sports videos.
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Shore’s fellow British featherweight Lerone Murphy is out next.
Murphy, who faces Gabriel Santos on Saturday, comes in at 145.5lbs.
All good for the Briton.
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Jack Shore emerges ahead of his featherweight UFC debut.
The Welshman comes in at 146lbs, making weight for his fight with Makwan Amirkhani.
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Jennifer Maia is next out, ahead of her flyweight bout with Casey O’Neill.
Maia is 125lbs, inside the flyweight limit!
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Malcolm Gordon uses the box but misses the flyweight limit! He comes in at 129.5lbs, but be still has two hours left to try to make weight for his bout with Jake Hadley.
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Kamaru Usman is first on the scales, and he makes the welterweight title-bout limit of 170lbs!
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
The UFC 286 weigh-ins are about to get under way!
The Independent is on the ground in Canary Wharf, London, to provide you with live updates.
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Here’s more from Kamaru Usman’s media-day appearance on Wednesday:
“I go in there to dominate, I go in there to win, that has never changed. It’s time for me to go in there and get violent.
“I’ve felt violent going into three fights. I felt violent going into the Sergio Moraes fight [in 2017], because I’d been asking for a top-15 [opponent], and I felt disrespected that the UFC matchmakers kept giving me guys that weren’t in the top 15. I felt very, very violent and resentful, and I wanted to show that. We saw what happened [Usman knocked out Moraes in Round 1].”
Here’s Usman on the other two fights in which he had a ‘violent’ mindset, as he revealed that he is starting to feel that way about Saturday’s main event...
Kamaru Usman reveals the three UFC fights he has entered with ‘violent’ intentions
Usman will try to regain the welterweight title from Leon Edwards on Saturday, seven months after losing the belt to his old foe
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
The Independent was present at the UFC 286 media day on Wednesday, and here is what Leon Edwards had to say about Kamaru Usman...
Leon Edwards: Kamaru Usman can follow his ‘fashion dreams’ after UFC 286
Edwards said Usman was dressed like Terry Crews’ character from the film ‘White Chicks’ ahead of their last fight, and the pair square off again this week
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
Look at Leon Edwards, and you’ll see gold and green. The romantics will see it in the flicker of the Jamaican flag behind him; the cynics will see it in the glint of his UFC title and the money he can generate.
When the softly spoken, Kingston-born welterweight became Britain’s second ever UFC champion in August – fighting from behind to knock out Kamaru Usman with a minute left on the clock – British MMA finally had a moment to eclipse Michael Bisping’s title win in 2016.
That was not only due to the miraculous nature of Edwards’ victory, which came courtesy of a head kick from the heavens against the pound-for-pound king, a man who had already beaten Edwards; it was also due to the context of the 31-year-old having suffered setback after setback for years leading up to his eventual title shot.
Nothing, seemingly, could rob the moment of its romance, and Edwards’ impending bout also seemed impervious. Why, then, would anyone be disappointed by UFC 286 before it has even begun?
Here is why:
BT Sport risks wasting momentum built by Leon Edwards and British UFC stars
UFC 286 will cost £19.95 for one-time customers as well as subscribers – with the latter already paying a monthly fee of £29.99
UFC 286 weigh-ins LIVE
“How times change,” Leon Edwards remarks. When the UFC welterweight champion ventures into the heart of the O2 Arena on Saturday, he will be doing so almost three years to the day after the venue’s veins suffered an untimely blockage.
In 2020, Edwards was due for a main-event showdown with former champion Tyron Woodley, only for the onset of the Covid pandemic to consign the fight to an ether of lost contests. “I was heartbroken, devastated,” Edwards says.
But how times change. And this, a defiant Edwards insists, is his time.
Read our interview with Edwards ahead of his first title defence, against Kamaru Usman this weekend:
Leon Edwards: ‘Kamaru Usman is coming into enemy territory’ at UFC 286
Interview: After dethroning Usman in dramatic fashion, Britain’s second ever UFC champion defends the welterweight belt against his rival in London
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