Kamaru Usman finally responded to the long running accusations of him being on performance enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Many in the combat sports world have long suspected the former UFC welterweight champion of being on substances.
Some main points of speculation include his incredible physique, his level of cardio given his lack of running, notable marks on his stomach as well as claims from famous YouTuber and PED user himself Derek from MorePlatesMoreDates.
In a recent interview with Joe Rogan, Usman not only reacted to his recent defeat to Leon Edwards, but also responded to all the speculation of him using PEDs.
“Of course, people accuse me all the time, and I never really told my story,” Usman told Joe Rogan on his podcast (via MMA News). “So one day I kept seeing people tagging me in this video. It’s some f****** guy, some dumbass that is on YouTube that swears he can spot people on PEDs.
“… So they point to marks on my stomach. I have five scars on my stomach. You know, like burn discoloration on my stomach. So they took that and came up with this whole theory about it. It kind of hurt my feelings.”
Kamaru Usman Explains Stomach Marks
But rather than those marks coming from needles, Usman revealed it was actually non-cancerous moles which he would later decide to burn off in a procedure.
However, instead of letting his stomach heal, he decided to wrestle which led to the permanent scarring.
“Okay, so here’s the story. I was a little self-conscious about it, I was in college, and this was my junior year. I started getting these moles, on my stomach and on my hand,” Usman explained. “I’m one of those clean freaks like I always shower right after practice. So I start scratching it, and it starts bleeding, so I’m like damn, this is irregular.
“… [The doctor] said what we could do is burn it off … So I’m still training heavily during the summer because I was just like an addict of wrestling. I wanted to catch up to everybody and exceed everybody. So the summer was the time for me to catch up. … So I wrestled, and later that evening, I get in the shower. I’m showering and all of a sudden, just burning. So I look down, and I’ve like scraped them off. I was told to just leave them and they would fall off on their own, but my dumb ass wrestled.”
Ultimately, Usman still denies the accusations and claims it’s his hard work that has gotten him all his success so far.
He also had a reminder for people who believe his physique isn’t natural.
“So then its guy is like ‘oh, he’s doing PEDs’. Look, he’s got marks on his stomach, and he hurt my feelings. I’m like one of those guys, I don’t even think about PEDs because of my work. I probably have dealt with someone who is cheating or fought someone who is cheating, but my work exceeds all of that. So when I see idiots online, I’m like, have you been to Africa? There are a lot of Francis Ngannous walking around.”
You can watch the interview snippet below:
