The UFC presents UFC 278 coming live from the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah on Saturday, August 20. The main event features the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC, welterweight champion Kamaru Usman will make his sixth defense of the title against No. 2 ranked contender Leon Edwards.
The early preliminary card starts at 6:00 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass. The preliminary card is next up at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN+. The big show gets started at 10:00 p.m. ET on ESPN+ PPV.
In the main event, it’s Usman (20-1) making another defense of his welterweight title. “The Nigerian Nightmare” continues to prove that he’s the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He has multiple wins over top contenders Colby Covington, Jorge Masvidal and a knockout win over Gilbert Burns on his resume. His name is mentioned among Matt Hughes and Georges St. Pierre as the greatest welterweight champion in UFC history.
The booth's reaction says it all
— UFC (@ufc) August 15, 2022
[ @Usman84kg | #UFC278 | Saturday | @VivintArena | @StateOfSport | Live on ESPN+ PPV: https://t.co/U0Pbshxhuo ] pic.twitter.com/2nJ8BgXOxA
Edwards (19-3) has been a longtime contender for the title, but got passed up several times due to injuries and a failure to have a signature win on his resume. Edwards is 9-0-1 in his last ten fights with wins against former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and Nate Diaz during that stretch. His last loss came against Usman, by a unanimous decision on December 19, 2015.
Usman is -350 betting favorite on DraftKings Sportsbook. Edwards is betting as a +290 underdog. The co-feature is former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold returning to the octagon in over three years to take on contender Paulo Costa.
UFC 278: Usman vs. Edwards main card, 10 p.m. ET, ESPN+ PPV
- Main Event: Kamaru Usman C (-350) vs #2 Leon Edwards (+290), welterweight title
- Co-Main Event: #6 Paulo Costa (-300) vs Luke Rockhold (+250), middleweight
- #3 José Aldo (+105) vs #6 Merab Dvalishvili (-125), bantamweight
- #11 Marcin Tybura (+290) vs #13 Alexander Romanov (-350), heavyweight
- Tyson Pedro (-740) vs Harry Hunsucker (+540), light heavyweight
Preliminary card, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ESPN+
- Leonardo Santos (+240) vs Jared Gordon (-285), lightweight
- Yanan Wu (+120) vs Lucie Pudilová (-140), women’s bantamweight
- Sean Woodson (-315) vs Luis Saldana (+260), featherweight
- Miranda Maverick (n/a) vs. Shanna Young (n/a), women’s flyweight
Early preliminary card, 6 p.m. ET, UFC Fight Pass
- AJ Fletcher (-150) vs Ange Loosa (+130), welterweight
- #11 Amir Albazi (-390) vs Francisco Figueiredo (+320), flyweight
- Aori Qileng (-165) vs Jay Perrin (+140), bantamweight
- Daniel da Silva (+155) vs Victor Altamirano (-180), flyweight