Ever since his dominant title victory over Tyron Woodley, Kamaru Usman has received a ton of praise for his abilities. The new UFC welterweight champ extended his win streak to 14 with his UFC 235 win. Now, he’s expected to make his first title defense against Colby Covington.
Speaking on a recent AMA, mixed martial arts (MMA) coach Firas Zahabi had a ton of praise for “The Nigerian Nightmare” (via Bloody Elbow):
“I was incredibly impressed by Usman. I think he’s the champ. I think he’s the best welterweight in the division now, and I believe that he’s gonna be champion for many years to come,” Zahabi said.
Zahabi was especially impressed with Usman’s skillset. He believes the welterweight champ has all the tools to go down as one of the greatest of all time if he stays healthy. The case could also be made that he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter on the planet right now:
“If he stays healthy, he’s gonna be champion for many years to come, in my opinion. If I was him, I would put all my eggs on staying healthy. Because I do feel he’s just one level ahead of everyone, and the only thing that can derail him from being one of the greatest of all time is a bad injury.
“These fighters go through a lot of grueling training and it definitely harms the body,” Zahabi said. “It’s a tough business physically and I feel like a lot of champions sometimes ruin their careers with injuries.
“Usman, from what I saw, is one of those guys who can be head and shoulders above the rest. He can be in the discussions for best pound-for-pound. I don’t think there’s many guys who can stop him, but again, it remains to be seen. Maybe he has a weakness that we haven’t discovered yet.”
Do you think Usman should be regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best in the UFC?
