Kamaru Usman has admitted that he was attempting to finish Leon Edwards in the fifth round of their title fight.

Heading into the final round of the UFC 278 main event, Kamaru Usman seemed to be well on his way to successfully defending the UFC welterweight championship against Leon Edwards. He was 3-1 up on the judges’ scorecards, he was in full control, and Edwards appeared to be fading down the stretch.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the entire division was turned upside down as Edwards landed a beautiful head kick with one minute left in the bout to knock Usman out and become the new king at 170 pounds.

During a recent interview with TMZ, Usman revealed that he refused to coast to victory and instead wanted to try and make a statement.

“No, that’s not who I am [coasting to a win],” Usman said. “When I fight, I got petal to the metal and I don’t look at the clock.

“I’m a goer, when I hear the [horn] I still want to go, and when the ref says, ‘Break, go to your corners,’ I still want to go. That’s the way that I fight. I wanted the finish, it was just a beautiful technique. I could’ve taken him down, but I really wanted a finish and when I was setting up, and only God knows what I was setting up, I didn’t land it, [who knows] how much damage it could’ve done, but it was just a beautiful technique.”

Quotes via MMA Fighting

The expectation is that Usman will get his chance to reclaim the gold at some point in the future courtesy of a trilogy fight, probably in England.

Do you believe what Kamaru Usman is saying about the final round against Leon Edwards? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!