the Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah, is the location for the event, which will feature a welterweight fight between Kamaru Usman and Leon Edwards as the main event. Although Salt Lake City, which is almost 1290 meters above sea level, can cause the competitors’ endurance issues. The fighters will have less air to breathe due to the area’s high altitude and low pressure. In terms of their performances, both Paulo Costa and Luke Rockhold were clearly exhausted by the last round of the evening’s co-main event.
Not sure what the UFC was thinking putting this fight at altitude. Rockhold vs Costa is painful to watch. #UFC278
— Mike Ginn (@_akamike) August 21, 2022
Alexander Romanov’s defeat against Marcin Tybura was also linked by many MMA fans on Twitter to Marcin Tybura’s lack of endurance as a result of the high altitude. Some athletes will adapt to the altitude better than others because everyone adjusts to new conditions in their own unique ways.
Dana White, president of the UFC, dismissed worries about elevation by saying that weather is always a role in fighting events. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Edwards moved to Utah two weeks prior to the fight in order to acclimate to the high altitude. Rocky, however, assured the SLT that the elevation had not caused him any fatigue problems:
“Everyone’s told me about the elevation!” Edwards added. “Back home, I’m sleeping at sea level, you know? But when I came out, I could tell no difference. It felt the same.”
What transpired during the main and co-main events of UFC 278?
It’s fair to say that UFC 278 was a thrilling experience. In the evening’s main event, Leon Edwards stunned everyone by stopping pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman in the fifth round of their title fight. The precise left high kick brought “The Nigerian Nightmare” to a stop. In addition, Edwards became the first fighter in his UFC career to defeat the previous welterweight champion.
Usman suffers his first defeat in the UFC and second overall in his professional MMA career at UFC 278. The former champion suffered his first defeat to Jose Caceres in his second professional match at CFA 11. Former title contender Paulo Costa defeated former middleweight champion, Luke Rockhold, in the co-main event, winning a competitive unanimous decision.
👏 @BorrachinhaMMA & @LukeRockhold gave it everything they had in tonight’s FOTN!
[ B2YB @ToyoTires | #UFC278 ] pic.twitter.com/IFlntCeJlH
— UFC (@ufc) August 21, 2022
The fighters fought both standing up and on the ground during the contest. Due to the high altitude of the venue, the pair appeared exhausted by the last round. Rockhold declared his retirement from the sport after the defeat. Merab Dvalishvili defeated former featherweight champion Jose Aldo in the other fight on UFC 278’s main card by unanimous decision.
Watch Luke Rockhold announce his retirement below:
Lucie Pudilova defeated Yanan Wu in the second round of their three-round fight in the women’s bantamweight division. Tyson Pedro, a light heavyweight prospect, defeated Harry Hunsucker via first-round knockout.
