Kamaru Usman Wants To Fight Leon Edwards In London In Early 2023

Kamaru Usman is planning to fight Leon Edwards in early 2023 -- in the Brit's home country -- but the Nigerian Nightmare ain't concerned about going into enemy territory ... 'cause he says the crowd will actually be on his side.

"I would love to go to England and do this in England," Usman told Babcock when they sat down for the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weeknights on FS1), adding, "I gotta lot of fans in England, a lot of my Africans, a lot of my Jamaican fans in England so I think it only makes sense."

Lots of fans in England ... as in, the crowd will be split 50/50, we asked.

"No, I think I have more fans in there than he would but it is what it is, going to the UK, doesn't matter. They don't help you fight. You gotta fight me. You gotta fight the Nigerian Nightmare when you're in there so that doesn't really make a difference for me," 35-year-old Usman said.

Of course, Kamaru lost his title to 31-year-old Edwards at UFC 278 in August. Usman was cruising, on his way to a relatively painless title defense ... that's until Rocky landed a perfectly placed head kick that turned the lights off for the champ.

Prior to the loss, Usman won 19 fights in a row ... many against the UFC's best, including Colby Covington (twice), Jorge Masvidal (twice), and many others. He also previously beat Edwards in late 2015.

After the fight, the internet did what the internet does ... and there were memes galore. Usman handled the loss graciously.

"I started wrestling in high school and I lost a lot until I started winning. Then I went to college wrestling and then I lost until I did win and then I started fighting, then I lost and started winning," Kamaru says, making the point ... everyone loses. It's how you bounce back.

And, after over 20 minutes of fighting this summer, Usman says both he and Edwards know who's the superior fighter.