Henry Cejudo believes Kamaru Usman needs to become a two-division champion to be considered among the greatest fighters of all time.
Usman successfully defended his welterweight title for a fifth time after a unanimous decision win over Colby Covington in their rematch at UFC 268 this past weekend.
“The Nigerian Nightmare” is already considered to be among the best pound-for-pound fighters today, with many having him at the number one spot.
But far as the greatest fighters of all time? He still has work to do for Cejudo who rates himself above Usman. Why? Because he won a title in a second division as well as defended it too.
“I put myself ahead of Usman as of right now,” Cejudo said on the latest episode of his podcast with The Schmo. “This is the way I have it… Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, GSP and I’m gonna have to put Triple C at No. 5 in goat mountain. Just for the sake of I have two belts and the people that I’ve beat are the best of my generation.
“There is something to be said whenever it is that you have a second belt because that’s really pound-for-pound.
Usman vs. Adesanya?
Usman will certainly have a case as the best welterweight of all time.
But as far as Cejudo is concerned, he needs to move up to middleweight and challenge his fellow African in Israel Adesanya to become a two-weight champion.
Of course, that’s something the pair have ruled out for the most part. But when legacy is at stake, it doesn’t matter who is standing in front of you for Cejudo.
“You’ve already lapped the division, Kamaru Usman,” Cejudo addressed him. “You’ve already beat Colby twice. You’ve already beat [Jorge] Masvidal a couple times too. The winner of Masvidal and [Leon] Edwards, I mean, you’re gonna beat Edwards again. There’s only one take in my side, and that’s saying go up and fight your African brother [Israel Adesanya]. Because you know what — this is about legacy.”
“If it’s the African pride, I kind of get that, but I don’t get that. Actually, as a matter of fact, I really don’t get that. Because to me, it’s all about legacy. Somebody else in the near future is going to be able to go through the same run that Kamaru Usman did. But the difference is can you win a second belt? And can you defend that second belt? And that’s what I want from ‘The Nigerian Nightmare.’ I want him to go up. I want him to fight Izzy. I just believe he has a perfect style to beat somebody like Izzy because he has wrestling.”
You can watch the full episode below:
