Kamaru Usman was nigh unstoppable when Leon Edwards knocked him with a head kick to become the new welterweight champion at UFC 278 two years ago. After he beat the former champion for a second time in their immediate rematch at UFC 286, there was no doubt about who the best welterweight in the UFC was.

This is why ‘Rocky’s almost entirely one-sided loss to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 was so shocking for most. Not only did Belal dominate on the ground, as was expected, but he also stunned the Englishman on the feet. Former two-division champion Henry Cejudo thinks this loss may partly be because of Edwards’ head injury.

Cejudo fears Leon Edwards got concussed by Muhammad at UFC 304

Speaking about the fight on his ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast with Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo felt that Edwards might have been concussed during the fight. Muhammad had picked up Edwards within 20 seconds and had slammed the Englishman on his head. This, ‘Triple C’ speculated, might have led to Edwards being concussed, which affected his performance for the rest of the fight, leading to the humiliating loss.

“The effects of picking somebody up and then dropping them on their head, he could have been too concussed in the fight too. Concussions to me are a lot worse than knockouts because you’re there but you’re halfway there. The bad habits that Leon was doing in the past had just caught up to him,” Cejudo said.

Speaking about what exactly Edwards did wrong against ‘Bully B’, the former Olympic gold medalist said that ‘Rocky’ made bad decisions throughout the fight. Cejudo felt that it wasn’t surprising that Muhammad dominated since Edwards allowed the 36-year-old to push him to the cage and pressure him there, exactly where Belal wanted the fight to be.

“He’s right in your face, like if you allow Belal Muhammad to put you against the cage, then you’re fighting his fight,” Cejudo added. Kamaru Usman, who knows Edwards’ game inside, having fought ‘Rocky’ thrice, agreed with his co-host, and added his own observations about why his old foe lost so meekly.

Kamaru Usman thinks ‘Bully B’ made ‘Rocky’ sloppy

Usman felt that the most egregious mistake Leon Edwards made at UFC 304 was to not hold the center position, from where he could use his excellent movements and range management to good effect. Instead, as Cejudo pointed out, ‘Rocky’ allowed himself to be pressed to the cage, where all his fancy footwork and stand-up game became almost useless.

The former welterweight champ also observed that the Englishman was uncharacteristically defensively sloppy in the fight, often leaving his chin in the air, just to try and make something happen on the feet so he doesn’t have to grapple with ‘Remember The Name.’

“Leon couldn’t hold that center position. Even when he did try to put a combination together which is more than two or three punches. It was almost the third punch was sloppy, his chin was up just to create some type of space and Belal didn’t give that to him. Very difficult to fight a style like that if you are not prepared to grapple,” Usman said.

Overall, Usman and Cejudo concluded that Edwards fought the fight that Belal Muhammad wanted him to fight, falling into the American’s trap by being in awkward positions where his game plan was useless. What are your thoughts on the UFC 304 main event?