Kamaru Usman has got a few more fights left in him and he wants to make them count.
‘Fighters Fight’
Despite losing two in a row as well as his title to Leon Edwards, the former UFC Welterweight Champion finds himself in another big fight this weekend. With barely any time to prepare, Usman moves up to middleweight to take on the seemingly unstoppable Khamzat Chimaev in the co-main event of UFC 294.
This isn’t Usman’s first rodeo, however, as he fought Jorge Masvidal on extremely short notice years ago – which was also in Abu Dhabi.
“It’s not the first time, how crazy is it [that it’s] at the same location?” Usman said at the UFC 294 media day. “This has kind of been my whole career. I’ve been preparing for moments like this. After my first ever professional fight, I couldn’t get a fight for a long, long time. But, you just had to stay in the gym and then hopefully get a fight on a couple weeks [notice] and jump in.
“So, this is what we do: fighters fight.”
An Opportunity Of A Lifetime
While it might not be another go at his long-held welterweight title, Usman does have a chance to prove he’s up next for middleweight gold instead, should he get past Chimaev.
“It’s another opportunity to be able to elevate yourself and it’s part of being a man, it’s part of living,” Usman continued. “You have highs of highs and you have lows of lows. And living is being able to get up and get back on that horse and test yourself like that again… It’s wanting to get that opportunity, wanting to feel that again.
“If you really look at it, when I was sitting down, when waiting for a fight, what was everyone saying? Oh, who’s he gonna fight? Like, we’ve seen him fight that guy twice. That guy three times. He’s beat that guy. He’s beat that one. People were kind of, oh, what, ‘what excites us about a fight?’ Are you excited about this fight? I think so.”
The Rematch We Never Knew We Wanted
Another fight that gets fans excited is a potential title rematch between Usman and newly-crowned champ Sean Strickland. The two fighters collided in 2017, where Usman dominated the welterweight ‘Tarzan’.
Six years after the fact, Strickland is the reigning, defending middleweight champion of the world and ex-champ Usman has taken some time to reflect on their first encounter.
“At that point I was coming downhill fast. I didn’t care who was in my way. Leon was that, I didn’t care. I took care of business. Sean was that, I didn’t care and I took care of business. I don’t really dwell on it,” Usman said of his past victory over Strickland.
“It’s when I’m done and I sit back now and, and start to reflect a little bit more and more. A lot of people didn’t know that I fought from Strickland, so you can tell I’ve been putting in work for a minute now. And so it’s just kinda one of those things. Now I’m starting to be in a position to where you get to reflect and say, I did put some work in, beat quite a few people here.”
Usman Says He’s A ‘Nightmare’ For Strickland
Usman sees the improvements Strickland has made in his game, but still thinks he’s a bad matchup for the controversial character.
“This is MMA, styles make fights. Sean, I think he’s definitely grown a lot, of course. I think the most important thing is he’s grown into his identity of a fighter. He accepts the fact that he fights this particular style, a particular way and he’s just leaned into it and he’s grown exponentially and now he’s the champion. Styles make fights.
“I’m a nightmare for certain people to deal with and I just think that matchup, it’s a nightmare for Sean Strickland. But, he’s grown exponentially. He’s very, very improved.”
Bucket List
At 36 years old, it’s no secret that Usman’s fighting days are numbered. But, that won’t stop ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ from chasing some more good dreams late into his career.
“I could also go down and take that belt back, you never know. I mean, what a way to go out, huh? Move up, grab that belt, go back down, grab that one, too. Throw up some fingers, walk away.
“Go grab this [middleweight title] real quick. Keep it warm before Izzy [Adesanya] comes back and uh, go down and grab that one, too.”
The title aspirations are very real for Kamaru Usman, but he has to get through a roadblock in Khamzat Chimaev first at UFC 294.
