Kamaru Usman thinks UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad is nearing Colby Covington territory with his trash talk.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] thinks UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] is nearing [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] territory with his trash talk.
That’s quite the statement from former champion Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC), considering that Covington has gone after his father’s troubled past in the build-up of their title fights. Usman was pointing to Muhammad’s dig at UFC 315 opponent Jack Della Maddalena.
“Just when I was gonna donate to your fundraiser so your coaches can come …enjoy spirit airlines.”
Just when I was gonna donate to your fundraiser so your coaches can come …enjoy spirit airlines https://t.co/yHsnyNFg01
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) is referring to the rumor that emerged about Della Maddalena needing a fundraiser to fly the rest of his coaching staff to Montreal, Quebec, Canada for his title fight on May 10. That rumor was later debunked as a misunderstanding.
Either way, Usman was critical of Muhammad’s way with words.
“I don’t think that’s very Muslim-esque,” Usman said of Muhammad on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Cejudo. “We don’t care about that. It is what it is. This is a guy who really is, for as much as you say you don’t like Covington for what Covington did to get to the top of the division and how he talks to people, you’re not far from it right now.
“And I think a lot of fans see that, and a lot of fans understand that as well, but it is what it is. At least these two guys are going to be able to step in there and actually settle it, so I’m excited for that.”
Usman’s dislike for Muhammad stems from an alleged scuffle that they had when Muhammad came on as a guest on his podcast. The episode never aired, but Usman’s co-host Henry Cejudo confirmed that things got physical between the two.
“I almost got kicked,” Cejudo told MMA Junkie. “Punches were thrown, and I had a messed-up ankle at that time. So Kamaru Usman and Belal, Belal was kicking me to my head, dude. Luckily I did a little slip. But it was definitely Rated R.”
“I was trying to get the Usman fight for months,” Brady said on his “The BradyBagz Show.” “DM’d him, hit him up, now he’s like, ‘Me and Brady should fight for the No. 1 contender.’ Oh, should we? I just beat the guy who beat you twice! Either I’m fighting for the belt next, I could fight the winner or loser, or really me vs. Shavkat for No. 1 contender.”
As for Covington calling him an easy matchup, Brady went off on the former interim champion, who’s currently on a two-fight losing skid.
“Same thing with him (Covington): I was asking for that fight for so long. The UFC pretty much told me, ‘This guy sucks,'” Brady said. “The best thing, I watched him, my brother sent me this clip where he said, ‘Sean Brady f*cking sucks. I never watched one of his fights. Blah blah blah. I remember watching him get beat up by Belal.’ Brother, you just said you never watched one of my fights, but then you watched me get beat up by Belal, so what are you talking about?
“He’s this high-level wrestler. I’m like, ‘Bro, Leon took you down multiple times, beat the sh*t out of you. Do you see what I just did to Leon? What would I do to you? I would f*cking kill him. He’s not even getting anyone in the top 15. Dude, he might not even have a f*cking job. When is the last time that dude won a fight? He f*cking sucks. Colby, you’re a p*ssy. How do you get punched on by (Jorge) Masvidal in public and go sue him? You’re not a pro fighter. You’re a p*ssy.”
Two of the biggest stars in boxing and the UFC compared fighter pay in their respective sports.
Two of the biggest stars in boxing and the UFC compared fighter pay in their respective sports.
Former UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] and undefeated super welterweight boxing champion [autotag]Terence Crawford[/autotag] discussed the pros and cons of fighter pay in MMA vs. boxing.
Usman argued that there’s more clarity in the pay for MMA fighters than boxers.
“For us, we get a lot of flak that, ‘Oh, you guys aren’t getting paid enough,’ but a lot of people don’t understand how simplified it is for us,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Cejudo. “You want to fight, this date, this is the paycheck, yes or no? For you guys (boxing), you have to be responsible for taking care of your manager. Now the promoter and manager have to work something out, and the promoter then has to go to the network to try and get you that money.
“There’s so many different people that the money has to touch their hands before it even gets to your hand. If it’s $100 million that’s being passed down the pipeline, by the time it gets to your hands, you might be touching $10-15 million out of 100. And that’s a hard pill to swallow to where we get a lot of flak for that, but there’s a lot of different situations in boxing to where you don’t get that.”
Crawford disagreed with Usman.
“Boxers get paid more than MMA as a whole,” Crawford said. “It’s no comparison.”
“At the top,” Usman responded.
“No, as a whole,” Crawford countered. “For instance, UFC, a guy headlining at The Sphere, they’re probably getting a couple of million dollars. But you’ll see a guy on the undercard of a big show probably making more than that guy. …You show up, you get $50,000. You win, you get another $50,000. You get the Knockout of the Year, you get another $50,000.”
Usman explained how while the big stars in boxing make more than the big stars in the UFC, the lower-level fighters make more in the UFC.
“For entry level UFC fighters, first fight in the UFC, you might make 10 and 10 (thousand),” Usman said. “You go out there and win, it’s $20,000. To where there are boxers that are maybe 7,8,10-0 still making – they tell them, ‘You want to fight this fight?’ Alright $2,500. That’s all I mean.”
Crawford made the point that Usman is talking about the UFC, which is the biggest promotion in MMA.
“OK, so let me break it down for you,” Crawford said. “The UFC, that’s like the top of the top. You got to work your way up to the UFC. There are boxers coming out of the Olympics getting a sign-in bonus that’s – So those little fights, are the fights you’re fighting that aren’t in the UFC. You can be pro and not be in the UFC.
“So we’re talking about the big stage. So once you make it to the UFC, you’re in the big leagues now. When I make it to the big leagues, when I’m on TV, I’m making more than you making when you come into the UFC. So, you’ve got to compare apples to apples. You can’t say this guy’s first fight in the UFC. Well, what did he do before the UFC?”
Both Henry Cejudo and manager Ali Abdelaziz pitched the idea of Usman vs. Brady next. Usman was impressed with Brady’s performance and is on board with the suggestion.
“That’s a good point, Henry, because when you look at styles and the way that fights work, myself and Colby Covington, what did everyone say? ‘Oh, they’re both wrestlers. They’re both economical fighters.’ And you saw what that turned out to be,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Cejudo. “All right, we cancel each other out, we ain’t even going to try to grapple, let’s bang it out.
“Hey, this has the potential to be one of those fights. I like Sean Brady. I like the way he approaches the game, and of course he’s training with Din Thomas now, so that adds an extra element to the game. I like both, but I want to keep that streak of beating all of Din Thomas’ guys. I whooped at least three of his guys, so I want to keep that streak going, but I like that matchup.”
Usman’s pecking order
Usman will look to rebound from a three-fight losing skid. The former welterweight champion gave his order of preference on whom he wants next, with Brady No. 1 on that list.
“If I had to pick the order, I would say Brady, Shavkat (Rakhmonov), (Joaquin) Buckley,” Usman said. “That’s what makes sense because the winner of Brady and I, we fight for the title next because if you look at what Sean Brady just did, he just took out a former champion. Then you fight another former champion, and if he’s able to get through me, it’s hard to deny him that he shouldn’t fight for the title. Who else in the division has a resume like that? No one if Brady is able to do that.”
Kamaru Usman’s opinion on who Ilia Topuria should fight next may not be a popular one.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag]’s opinion on who [autotag]Ilia Topuria[/autotag] should fight next may not be a popular one.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) vacated his featherweight title for a move up to 155 pounds. “El Matador” is eyeing UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev right off the bat, but Usman would like to see him tested against an elite grappler first.
He initially suggested lightweight contender Dan Hooker, but quickly changed his tune and picked [autotag]Mateusz Gamrot[/autotag] (24-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC).
“Ilia Topuria, Mateusz Gamrot,” Usman said on “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry.” “Hey, hey, hey, hey. The one thing we really don’t see often is Ilia Topuria on his back, now give him a relentless wrestler who is very successful in that lightweight division. I know a lot of people don’t talk about him because the style is not so fan friendly, but this guy can make a run at that title. You saw his fight vs. Arman, that was back-and-forth.”
As for the rest of the lightweight division, Usman played matchmaker.
“If I had to put my bracket together, I would have to say Islam is fighting Justin (Gaethje),” Usman said. “And after that, if you want to give a fantastic fight for Dustin Poirier, the retirement fight, why don’t we do the third one with Max Holloway? And then, I would do Arman Tsarukyan vs. Charles Oliveira, and then I would probably do the winner of Chandler vs. Pimblett against Dan Hooker. I would do that.”
Kamaru Usman thinks the blueprint to beat Leon Edwards is there for Sean Brady.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] thinks the blueprint to beat [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] is there for [autotag]Sean Brady[/autotag].
Former champion Edwards (22-4 MMA, 14-3 UFC) meets Brady (17-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 255 (ESPN+) main event at The O2 in London.
Usman fought Edwards three times. Although he lost two of their three bouts, he was able to find plenty of success with his wrestling. Belal Muhammad was also able to overwhelm Edwards with his grappling to dethrone him at UFC 304, and Usman sees Brady being able to do the same.
“This is no shade in any way, shape, form, or fashion, but Leon, there’s a blueprint to something that, to beat a fighter like you, and that’s forward pressure,” Usman said on “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry.” “That’s the up-and-downs, the mixing of the wrestling with the striking, the takedowns, continuous takedowns and/or takedown attempts. These are some things that throw you off your game and this is something that’s been proven that, with time, wears you out. Yes, you’ve gotten exponentially better at defending up against the cage, you’ve gotten better at getting back up once being taken down with the cage. These are things that you’ve worked on, these are things that are great for you, but that doesn’t negate the fact that you do allow yourself to be taken down.
“Your offensive wrestling is not the greatest, and when you’re going up against a guy like Sean Brady, who will continue to attempt (takedowns). His jiu-jitsu is top tier once he gets on top and he’s able to control you. He can find that finish. So this is where I find it problematic, that statement of Leon saying, ‘If Belal is able to finish him, I can finish him, as well.’ That’s not the case, because like the blueprint I used when I was fighting Leon, the blueprint that Belal used when he was fighting Leon I believe is the blueprint Sean Brady is going to implement when fighting Leon Edwards. If Leon Edwards has changed that game, then I can see him winning, but if he hasn’t, I don’t see a clear path to victory for him.”
Usman ultimately picked Brady to beat Edwards.
“Sean Brady is just going to implement the exact same game plan,” Usman concluded. “Sean Brady’s ability to wrestle offensively is greater than Leon’s ability to wrestle offensively. I believe Sean Brady is going to implement that – of course, hit us with the mixtures, with the up and downs, eventually get the takedown, ride out those takedowns, and that has proven to wear Leon out over time. I see Sean Brady being able to pull this one out. If I had to pick, I would go with Sean Brady.”
Here’s what you need to know to watch UFC Fight Night 254 on ESPN+.
(This story was updated to add new information.)
The UFC stays in its Las Vegas home base for the third straight week, and in this final one, a former middleweight title challenger is at the top of the lineup.
Here’s how to watch UFC Fight Night 254 with 185-pounders in the headlining spot, plus a fun welterweight scrap in the co-feature.
Veteran broadcaster [autotag]Karyn Bryant[/autotag] serves as desk anchor and host at UFC Fight Night 254.
Former UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag], “The Ultimate Fighter 15” winner [autotag]Michael Chiesa[/autotag] and coach [autotag]Din Thomas[/autotag] join her as analysts at the desk.
UFC correspondent [autotag]Megan Olivi[/autotag] will conduct pre- and post-fight interviews backstage with some of the athletes on the UFC Fight Night 254 card, as well as report additional real-time updates for the event.
[autotag]Brendan Fitzgerald[/autotag] will serve as the leading man on the mic from cageside at UFC Fight Night 254.
He’ll command play-by-play and be joined in the booth by retired former former UFC and WEC bantamweight champion [autotag]Dominick Cruz[/autotag] and UFC Hall of Famer [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag].
Brendan Fitzgerald, Dominick Cruz, Michael Bisping
Main event: Marvin Vettori
Record: 19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC Opponent: Roman Dolidze (14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) Division: Middleweight Key wins: Roman Dolidze, Paulo Costa, Kevin Holland, Jack Hermansson Misc.: A five-fight winning streak got him a 2021 title shot against then-champ Israel Adesanya. But after that unanimous decision loss, he’s alternated wins and losses – and the setbacks have been against former champs and title challengers. The fight against Dolidze is a rematch from two years ago that Vettori won.
Marvin Vettori
Main event: Roman Dolidze
Record: 14-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC Opponent: Marvin Vettori (19-7-1 MMA, 9-5-1 UFC) Division: Middleweight Key wins: Kevin Holland, Anthony Smith, Jack Hermansson Misc.: Dolidze had four straight wins and three straight bonuses when he was outworked by Vettori in their first meeting in 2023. He lost a decision to Nassourdine Imavov after that, but now has back-to-back wins over Holland Smith from 2024.
Jun 29, 2024; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Roman Dolidze (blue gloves) fights Anthony Smith (red gloves) during UFC 303 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Co-main event: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos
Record: 25-8-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC Opponent: Chidi Njokuani (24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC) Division: Welterweight Key wins: Benoit Saint-Denis, Sean Strickland Misc.: Zaleski dos Santos got back on track with a 75-second knockout of then-unbeaten Zach Scroggin this past November.
Co-main event: Chidi Njokuani
Record: 24-10 MMA, 4-3 UFC Opponent: Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos (25-8-1 MMA, 11-4-1 UFC) Division: Welterweight Key wins: Jared Gooden, Dusko Todorovic, Marc-Andre Barriault Misc.: After a three-fight skid, Njokuani is back on track with 2024 decision wins over Gooden and Rhys McKee.
UFC debut: Kevin Vallejos
Record: 14-1 Opponent: Seungwoo Choi (11-7 MMA, 4-6 UFC) Division: Featherweight Misc.: THe 23-yeard-old took out Cam Teague with a first-round knockout on DWCS to get his UFC shot. His first shot on DWCS resulted in his only loss to date – to current UFC rising star Jean Silva.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 24: (R-L) Kevin Vallejos of Argentina punches Cam Teague in a featherweight fight during Dana White’s Contender Series season eight, week seven at UFC APEX on September 24, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
UFC debut: Diyar Nurgozhay
Record: 10-0 Opponent: Brendson Ribeiro (16-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC) Division: Light heavyweight Misc.: The 27-year-old from Kazakhstan has eight of his 10 wins by stoppage, including six knockouts. One of those came less than a year ago against 2019 $1 million PFL winner Emiliano Sordi.
UFC debut: Josias Musasa
Record: 8-0 Opponent: Carlos Vera (11-4 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Division: Bantamweight Misc.: For the first time in his brief career, Musasa, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, had to go to the judges for a win. But it was on DWCS, and his split call over fellow unbeaten prospect Otari Tanzilovi was enough to get him to the show.
Josias Musasa def Otar Tanzilovi – DWCS 71
UFC debut: Yuneisy Duben
Record: 6-0 Opponent: Carli Judice (3-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) Division: Women’s flyweight Misc.: Born in Venezuela and fighting out of Pittsburgh, the 28-year-old has all her wins by stoppage, including a 73-second KO of Shannon Clark on DWCS to get into the UFC.
UFC Fight Night 254 main card betting odds
MAIN CARD (ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET)
Marvin Vettori -150 vs. Roman Dolidze +125
Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos -205 vs. Chidi Njokuani +170
While former UFC champ Kamaru Usman found Alex Pereira to look “flat,” he had plenty of praise for Magomed Ankalaev’s work.
Former UFC welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] didn’t necessarily like what he saw from now-former light heavyweight champion [autotag]Alex Pereira[/autotag] at UFC 313 but gave plenty of praise to [autotag]Magomed Ankalaev[/autotag] for his performance.
In the main event of UFC 313, Ankalaev (21-1-1 MMA, 12-1-1 UFC) became the first new UFC champion crowned in 2025 by outworking Alex Pereira in a unanimous decision win at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Usman, who knows a thing or two about wrestling and UFC titles, found Ankalaev’s performance to be inspiring, but wants everyone to drop the wrestler label when describing the new 205-pound champion.
“Ankalaev don’t really wrestle, so let’s just stop classifying him as a Dagestani wrestler,” Usman said on “Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry.” “He’s not wrestling. Ankalaev put on a masterpiece. He showed that he’s not afraid of anyone. He’s got the striking, he’s got the footwork, and man, fight I.Q.”
Many believed that Ankalaev’s path to victory was through a grinding wrestling approach. While he did hunt for takedowns throughout the fight, he was unsuccessful with each attempt. Instead, it was Ankalaev’s striking and forward pressure that carried the victory. Usman also found another key piece to Pereira’s downfall.
“One key thing, Henry, that a lot of people were missing, that didn’t really see, is the hand fighting,” Usman said. “Ankalaev dominated Alex Pereira’s front hand. He dominated it; he was touching it, he was pulling it down. Alex couldn’t get off. Alex landed maybe six jabs that I saw, good jabs – but he couldn’t. Ankalaev controlled that hand. He was moving it in, moving it out. He was playing with it the whole time. Pereira just couldn’t get going.”
While giving Ankalaev plenty of high marks for his performance, Usman did believe Pereira’s was also “flat.” Plenty expected Pereira to record another knockout victory, but Ankalaev didn’t give “Poatan” that opportunity. Given his title reign of three defenses, Usman expects the UFC to run it back.
“I think they do the rematch, of course,” Usman said. “It’s the biggest fight they can do in the division because Pereira’s been through everybody else. They do the rematch, and just give Ankalaev a chance to really solidify himself as the champion there, and really now start to carry that torch.
“I like it. I think they do that before the year is over. Congratulations to Magomed Ankalaev, because he did say he was going to go out there and do it, and he definitely did.”
Kamaru Usman isn’t ruling himself out of the UFC welterweight title race.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] isn’t ruling himself out of the UFC welterweight title race.
Belal Muhammad defends his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 headliner May 10 in Montreal. Shavkat Rakhmonov is waiting in the wings, and ex-champ Leon Edwards battles Sean Brady in the UFC Fight Night 255 headliner March 22 in London.
Muhammad expressed interest in a potential move up to middleweight to challenge champion Dricus Du Plessis, but Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) thinks he still has plenty of work to do at welterweight.
“If Belal wants to go up and fight DDP, then he vacates the title,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “Who cares? He hasn’t gone through the division to say, ‘Hey, I want double straps.’ No one cares, and listen, this is not me trying to hate or say anything negative about him. If he wants to do that, that’s fine. He can do that, but there’s a plethora of guys there.
“There’s all these new guys coming up. You’ve got JDM, you’ve got Sean Brady, you’ve got Joaquin Buckley, you’ve got Ian Garry if he’s able to get back to the winning column. Don’t forget, Geoff Neal is on that shortlist as well, you’ve got ‘The Nightmare’ Carlos Prates is on his way up. You’ve got (Michael) Morlaes who will be fighting (Gilbert) Burns soon. So, there’s guys coming that you haven’t really gone through the division.”
Former UFC 170-pound champion Usman is on a three-fight losing skid, but wouldn’t be surprised if one win resulted in him leapfrogging everyone else.
“Where does that leave me? With every one of those guys that I just mentioned, I’m still a bigger name than every one of them,” Usman continued. “And this is not me being any way, I’m still a bigger name than all of them.
“I’m still there in the top three of the division. I go in and I beat up somebody – from the company’s perspective, from my perspective, for our champion’s perspective, whoever has the belt at that time, I think we all know who the right pick is to fight for that title.”
Kamaru Usman thinks too many people are counting Jack Della Maddalena out against Belal Muhammad at UFC 315.
[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] thinks too many people are counting [autotag]Jack Della Maddalena[/autotag] out against [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] at UFC 315.
Welterweight champion Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) makes his first title defense against Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the May 10 (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) main event from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
After repeatedly getting taken down against Gilbert Burns at UFC 299, Della Maddalena was able to rally to score a late knockout. Usman thinks that’s indicative of the type of challenge Della Maddalena will present to Muhammad, who boasts a strong grappling base.
“I think he’s a sleeper guy,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “I’ve seen him fight, and obviously I do know how to beat a guy like that. But the one thing about him is he’s so relaxed to where it’s very, very hard to beat him. When I say beat him, I don’t mean just win the fight. It’s very, very hard to discourage him from trying.
“There are some guys you can take down 50 million times, and they’re still going to keep trying to get up. And as wrestlers, we know how annoying that is. It’s very, very hard to do that with a guy like Jack Della Maddalena. Now I do think Belal has better grappling than him as far as taking him down, having top control, maybe looking for a choke here and there. But striking wise, I think JDM is much better than Belal.”
“It’s an intriguing fight,” Usman said. “I don’t think it’s a landslide that Belal is going to win the fight. I do think it’s a very intriguing fight. Honestly, I like the fight, and I can’t wait to see it. I think JDM presents a different threat than what Belal was expecting.”
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small guys is always great idea 
