Kamaru Usman has lost three fights in a row in the UFC but he’s still regarded as one of the best welterweight fighters in the world. Many believe he deserved to win his last fight against Khamzat Chimaev or it should’ve been a draw.
There are plenty of contenders in the UFC welterweight division for the new champion, Belal Muhammad. Although fans and the champion himself have acknowledged Shavkat Rakhmonov and Jack Della Maddalena as worthy title contenders, it is worth noting that Usman is ranked higher than both.
While talking about his imminent return to the Octagon, “Nigerian Nightmare” compared his journey to former champs Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. He also revealed certain bitter truths about MMA fans…
Kamaru Usman Shares The Struggles Of Active Champions Like Himself, Israel Adesanya, and Alexander Volkanovski
Usman recently appeared on the Weighing In podcast hosted by John McCarthy and Josh Thomson. After claiming that he’s better than Muhammad in every department, the former UFC champ remembered how hard he worked at the peak of his career.
“I was entertaining and entertaining and entertaining was the thing for me. I didn’t care what I was going through. I didn’t care what I was dealing with. I didn’t care what I was battling physically, mentally, emotionally. Didn’t matter to me, I was going to jump in there and perform and perform and perform. And the same thing with Israel Adesanya which is why you saw ton of those title defenses and I’m sure Alexander Volkanovski, who also came out and expressed.”
Usman relates to Adesanya and Volkanovski because they were active champs as well. Like them, he sidelined injuries and ignored recovery to go out there and entertain the fans as much as possible.
The future UFC Hall of Famer admitted to benefitting a lot from his championship run. However, he called out fans who immediately turn on champions after they lose their belts. Without realizing how hard it is to maintain dominance at the top of the sport, people call former champions washed or question their legacy.
“Now, I’m in a place where, okay, with all of that comes a lot of injuries. All the things that you’ve been dealing with, it kind of catches up to you. And now I’m just in a position to, where I’m trying to heal all of that. Because you know, you stack up all these injuries over time and it starts to diminish your performances to where people start to forget just how good you are, just how much time you spent building your career, doing the things that made you successful to where they start, oh, he’s washed. Which is how disrespectful are MMA fans. How disrespectful are they, oh he’s washed, oh he can’t do this anymore.”
Such behavior naturally doesn’t sit well with Usman. Now that he no longer has the pressure to defend a championship, though, he looks forward to returning to the Octagon at his best and reminding everyone of his skills.
