UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 is an upcoming mixed martial arts event produced by the
Ultimate Fighting Championship that will take place on March 18, 2023, at The O₂ Arena in
London, England. Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman are about to settle one of the more
fascinating trilogies in combat sports.

UFC 286: Edwards vs. Usman 3 Live

When Edwards and Usman clash in Saturday’s UFC 286 main event, it will have been over
seven years since their first fight, a rarely mentioned unanimous decision win for Usman that
marked the beginning of his UFC career in earnest. It will only have been seven months since
Edwards ended Usman’s incredible welterweight title reign with a fifth-round head kick that not a
soul could have seen coming.

It took nine wins for Edwards to make his case for a second fight with Usman, a stretch of
success that was dwarfed by Usman’s championship run that established him as, at worst, the
second-best welterweight in UFC history. Edwards’ upset sent Usman tumbling down the MMA
Fighting Pound-for-Pound chart, but will that win only be remembered as a blip in Usman’s story
if “The Nigerian Nightmare” bounces back and wins the series? Is Edwards poised to usher in
the next era of the decorated welterweight division or will it return to status quo?
The co-main event has its fair share of questions as well, but the most important one is “my
goodness how freaking incredible is this matchup?” That’s right, Rafael Fiziev is getting his shot
at a top 5 opponent and it’s arguably the most fun possible option: The inimitable Justin
Gaethje.

Gaethje has twice challenged for the undisputed UFC lightweight title and held on to a top spot
in the rankings seemingly forever, so this is Fiziev’s chance to truly shake up the division. All he
has to do is win a striking battle with one of the scariest punchers to ever step into the octagon.
In other main card action, Gunnar Nelson takes on Bryan Barberena in a battle of welterweight
veterans, one-time flyweigh