It is not a hard argument to make that Kamaru Usman is one of the least respected champions in the UFC right now. However, ahead of his UFC 258 main event, he made it clear that he does not care what the fans think of him.
For someone as dominant as Usman has been in the UFC, he often gets looked over by the general fanbase. Despite the fact that he is undefeated in the UFC, and only has one loss generally, he does not seem to get the respect he deserves.
Even after having an exciting fight and beating the largely disliked Colby Covington, and facing a surging Jorge Masvidal, there has been a noticeable lack of hype among fans, leading into his UFC 258 main event with Gilbert Burns.
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Kamaru Usman Does Not Care What You Think
Heading into this fight, Kamaru Usman is approaching Georges St-Pierre’s record for most consecutive welterweight wins in the UFC. However this is not something that he is putting any focus into.
Speaking in a recent interview, Kamaru made it clear that he does not care about these types of things right now. While he may eventually look back on his career and be proud of these achievements, right now he is focused on what is in front of him.
“It means nothing to me right now. That’s not something I worry about,” Usman said.
“If that was something I was dwelling on, then that takes my focus and attention away from the task at hand. So it’s not something that I’m worried about or even think about.
“I know one day I will, when I’m sitting at home and I’m older, and all my kids are looking at some of my accomplishments, and they’re doing things of their own, and they ask me to tell them the story about this or that, that’s going to be something that’s cool, to let them know hey, after years and years and years, look how much time has gone by and your father or your grandpa is in these history books.
“That would be cool to say, but as of right now, no I’m worried about the task at hand, and it’s a big one.”
One other thing that Kamaru Usman is not worried about, is what fans think of him. He says that this is not in his focus, because he cannot control how people look at him, only the types of performances he puts on.
“Honestly, I don’t care (if fans respect me). I stopped worrying about that years ago because fans don’t care, people don’t care,” Usman explained.
“How can there be a shred of doubt after I dethroned the champion the way I did? How can there be a shred of doubt after I went out and put on the performance that I did against Colby Covington and finished the fight the way that I did? How can there be a shred of doubt?
“People are going to feel the way that they feel. I really don’t give a s—t. As long as I come in there and do my job, and I’m compensated the appropriate way for it, I don’t give a s—t.
“They can feel how they want to feel. They say people often don’t appreciate things unless they’re gone, so at the end of the day when I’m done, people may look back and say ‘Holy s—t, that dude was a savage.”
🔊 UFC Welterweight Champion, @USMAN84kg stopped by Unlocking The Cage with @jimmysmithmma to talk about his opportunity to tie GSP's record for welterweight wins and whether a dominant win over Gilbert Burns at #UFC258 will earn him the respect from the fans he deserves👊 pic.twitter.com/JJowfY76GS
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) February 12, 2021
Whether he cares or not, Kamaru Usman will be taking his next step towards greatness this weekend, when he takes on Gilbert Burns at UFC 258.
