Fans want Kamaru Usman to retire. Dana White isn’t hearing it.
Usman returned from more than a year out to face Dricus du Plessis in Saturday’s UFC Oklahoma City main event, moving up to middleweight and dropping a unanimous decision. At 39 and now 1-4 in his last five, the former welterweight king drew a wave of calls to walk away. White shut them down at the post-fight press conference.
Both guys performed and looked good. When you see the ‘holy sh*t these guys should retire’ fights, that’s not it.
To White, this wasn’t a shot fighter getting exposed. It was a smaller man giving one of the division’s best a real fight.
He’s accomplished so much, and he’s fighting literally the number one or two best guy in the world who is way bigger than he is. I think Kamaru has done enough in his career, it’s up to him.
He left the decision squarely with Usman.
It’s not like he’s some young guy that hasn’t done anything. This guy has done it all.
Usman doesn’t sound ready to stop, and he isn’t committing to middleweight either.
Either one, you know, wherever the opportunity is at, that’s where I’m going,” Usman told Daniel Cormier in his post-fight interview.
Where he goes next is the tricky part. Unranked at 185 pounds and clearly no longer in the title mix, Usman is the kind of proven name the UFC tends to use to elevate rising contenders.
