Leon Edwards is confident that beating Kamaru Usman once again could open the door for the latter's retirement.

'Rocky' and 'The Nigerian Nightmare' will complete their trilogy as they lock horns at UFC 286 this weekend.

Their previous meeting saw Edwards deliver a brutal KO to Usman to take his welterweight title.

Usman won their first fight in 2015, so a lot is at stake this weekend at the O2 Arena in London.

However, Edwards believes that a win on Saturday night could lead to his 35-year-old opponent retiring from the sport.

Speaking to the media, he said: "I think something is out of the door already and I'm going to add to that, just from his mentality and the way he's moving.

"Whether he retires after or not, that's up to him. I heard he flew a stylist over here, our mentalities are in two different places.

"I feel like he's on his way out and I'm going to open that door, give him another path to follow his fashion dreams and whatever he wants to do."

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The duo's previous fight in August saw Usman on the front foot for much of the bout.

Edwards was approaching a second consecutive defeat against his opponent but he stole the glory in the fifth and final round.

His stunning head kick saw him claim a knockout win that caused a huge upset, and made him the second Brit to win a UFC title after Michael Bisping.

Both fighters haven't fought since then, and victory for Edwards would extend his winning run to 11.

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