There's officially a new UFC pound-for-pound king after Kamaru Usman's brutal defeat to Leon Edwards

Kamaru Usman has been replaced as the UFC pound-for-pound king following his brutal knockout defeat to Leon Edwards.

'The Nigerian Nightmare' suffered his first defeat inside the famed Octagon as he succumbed to 'Rocky' Edwards in the main-event of UFC 278 last weekend.

The British fighter stunned the MMA world when he landed a vicious head kick that knocked out Usman in the fifth and final round.

Image: Alamy

As a result, Usman has plummeted down the UFC pound-for-pound rankings to fourth.

UFC featherweight kingpin Alexander Volkanovski is the new No.1 UFC pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion.

'The Great' is unbeaten in the UFC and has won 12 straight fights in the organisation.

Image: Alamy

Image: Alamy

He's been UFC champion since 2019 and boasts four title defences, having last fought at UFC 276 when he dominated Max Holloway.

The Australian star is ahead of teammate and UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya as well as former UFC lightweight champion Charles Oliveira.

Then comes Usman, with UFC heavyweight title holder Francis Ngannou occupying fifth spot.

Edwards enters the ranking in at sixth ahead of Aljamain Sterling, Dustin Poirier, Deiveson Figueiredo and Jiri Prochazka.

Holloway, Jon Jones, Stipe Miocic, Petr Yan and Brandon Moreno make up the top 15

Image: UFC

Usman, meanwhile, could return to the upper echelon of the UFC pound-for-pound rankings if he can reclaim the UFC welterweight title.

A trilogy against Edwards appears to be next, with Dana White teasing a showdown at Wembley Stadium.

And the 35-year-old likes the idea of fighting on English soil.

"What else makes sense (other than trilogy)? Look at the division, what else makes sense? I talked to Dana and I'll let him do his job, we're going to see what date makes sense, probably top of next year," he said.

"I was going to squeeze one in this year but it's probably top of next year. I want to go to England. I feel like England is my second home.

"England is half Africa, people don't know that. It's time to go over there and entertain my English people, what better story."