LAS VEGAS – Trevor Wittman wouldn’t necessarily view Kamaru Usman vs. Leon Edwards as a rematch if that fight panned out.

Welterweight champion Usman (19-1 MMA, 14-0 UFC) defeated Edwards by unanimous decision more than six years ago at UFC on FOX 17, but Edwards has not lost since then.

Edwards (19-3 MMA, 11-2 UFC) is unbeaten in his past 10 fights, picking up notable wins over Vicente Luque, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos and, most recently, Nate Diaz. While Wittman prefers Usman take on a new challenge over another rematch, he wasn’t coaching Usman back then.

“I think (we want) a new challenge,” Wittman told MMA Junkie on what he wants next for Usman. “Leon is a new challenge to me. That was so long ago, and I wasn’t his coach. I just want the best. As a coach, you want the best challenges. We want to go out there and make sure that we’re not hesitating and making different decisions and then seeing if we can change game plans up in fights. That’s a cool thing, too, fighting differently than you did the first time when you fought him. So that’s always a cool challenge for me as a coach. I’m open to anything. At this level, we want the best. That’s it.”

Wittman has been pivotal in Usman’s transformation as a fighter ever since the pair joined forces in 2020. Usman entered the UFC with a strong wrestling background and used his grappling to dominate most opponents, including Edwards in 2015. But as of late, “The Nigerian Nightmare” has shown marked improvements in his striking, knocking out Gilbert Burns, Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington in three of his five title defenses.