Tag: Kamaru Usman

Kamaru Usman: Max Holloway’s eye pokes on Justin Gaethje could’ve altered UFC 300 outcome

Kamaru Usman says the potential impact of Max Holloway’s eye pokes on Justin Gaethje can’t be ignored.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] says the potential impact of [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag]’s eye pokes on [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] can’t be ignored.

Usman’s teammate and good friend, Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC) was mostly dominated and on the receiving end of a last-second knockout in his BMF title fight against Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC) this past Saturday at UFC 300.

Holloway landed a spinning back kick at the end of Round 1, which busted Gaethje’s nose. He also inadvertently poked Gaethje twice in the eye, which Usman said had to have negatively impacted him.

“We can’t shy away from the fact that this man took the kick to the nose,” Usman said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Henry Cejudo. “Was it the end of the first round, just seconds left or if not zero time left, took that kick to the nose, which plays a huge, huge part in potentially moving on in the fight because now you can’t breathe the way you want to breathe in that fight.

“And on top of that, we have to see the two eye pokes. I mean, they were clear-cut legit eye pokes, and it wasn’t that Max was doing it maliciously or on purpose. They happened, and these are the type of things that can alter the outcome of a fight.”

Gaethje was down three rounds to one on two of the three judges’ scorecards. Usman thinks he should have mixed in some wrestling to throw Holloway’s rhythm off.

“I think the place where things kind of might have went sideways is making the necessary adjustments in the fight,” Usman said. “I think Justin is such a freaking good guy, which is why he is your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter. He loves to entertain so much to where it’s, ‘OK, you paid to see this type of fight; I’m going to give you that type of fight.’

“He’s that type of guy and to where I thought he could have made some adjustments. He is a wrestler. This fight is completely different had Justin changed levels and took Max down once or twice, and he can do it. He can 100 percent do it.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Kamaru Usman: Belal Muhammad ‘only thing that makes sense’ for UFC champ Leon Edwards

Add Kamaru Usman to the list of fighters that think Belal Muhammad deserves the next title shot.

Add [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] to the list of fighters that think [autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] deserves the next title shot.

Muhammad, who’s on a 10-fight unbeaten streak, has been heavily campaigning for a shot at UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards, but a fight is yet to materialize for him. The only asterisk in his run is a no contest against Edwards in March 2021.

Former champion Usman agrees with Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC), and sees him as the most logical option next for Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC).

“The only thing that makes sense right now is Belal Muhammad – because Belal has been there for a while, has been in that top 10, that top five,” Usman said on UFC Live. “Who else makes sense? I think it’s going to take time to be able to build someone to challenge the champion.”

After falling short in his middleweight debut against Khamzat Chimaev this past October at UFC 294, Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) finds himself in a quandary.

“I never thought I’d be in this position,” Usman said. “I never thought I would just have a body of work to the point where I can sit back a little bit and let things kind of unfold. For a long time, I was like, ‘I need to get there and be that guy. I need to be champion.’ Now I’m in a position where I don’t have to.

“I definitely want to, but I’m taking time to just kind of see how things unfold because right now the welterweight division is kind of clouded and the middleweight division as well. … I’m just taking some time, letting some things heal and plotting my next move.”

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The 10 UFC fighters tested most by USADA in 2023

By far, nobody was disrupted by USADA in 2023 more than Paulo Costa. Could it be the flaunting of secret juice?

The UFC’s partnership with the United States Anti-Doping Agency nears its end, with a scheduled termination as soon as the calendar flips from 2023 to 2024.

In 2023, USADA tested 739 mixed martial artists a combined 4,231 times. While many athletes were randomly tested less than 10 times, some were tested two dozen – and some others, even more. The totals represented 48 more tests and 14 more athletes than in 2022.

With testing data available on USADA’s official website, here are the 12 fighters tested the most from Jan. 1 to Dec. 26, 2023.

Note: There may have been additional data from Dec. 27-31 that has not yet been updated in the USADA database.

‘Certain lines that we just don’t cross’: Ex-UFC champ Kamaru Usman speaks out against trash talk going too far

In the wake of a UFC 296 fight week filled with distasteful comments, Kamaru Usman offers an interesting perspective on trash talk in MMA.

Former welterweight champion [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] has some thoughts on a UFC 296 fight week filled with controversies.

From Colby Covington’s distasteful comments toward Leon Edwards’ murdered father to Dricus Du Plessis bringing up Sean Strickland’s past child abuse, emotions flew high last week in Las Vegas. UFC CEO Dana White admitted Covington’s comments were too much, but Usman said it’s hard for White to contain the trash talk even though he’s not a fan of it.

“I don’t think that’s Dana’s job,” Usman said on the PBD Podcast. “Dana is a promoter, and so his job is to promote the fights. He has a whole company that he’s looking out for. This is fight sports. It’s very difficult to tell two grown men, ‘Hey, don’t say that about this.’  This is not scripted. As the motto is, it’s as real as it gets. Me being the man that I am and growing up the way that I grew up, I understand that there’s a limit to certain things. There’s certain boundaries and certain lines that we just don’t cross. I think that goes into just upbringing and the respect factor of just growing up in life.

“We understand that there are certain things that you just don’t do. As I believe in war, wars wage with men. Men wage wars. It’s very difficult to start attacking women and children. That just has never been a thing that men do. When they say sign up for war, it’s men that sign up. We sign up, and we go defend. And so the same thing with what we’re doing because in a way we’re waging war with one another. When we do these things, that’s what men do. We leave those out because it’s between us. We have to step in there, and we have to take care of whatever we say we’re going to do.”

With the rise of MMA and the ever-growing platforms, Usman thinks fighters are eager to capitalize on the opportunities of having some shine on them.

“Nowadays, we’re in these weird times in society to where everybody wants to be seen, everybody wants to be heard,” Usman said. “It’s information overload. We have these mics, we have these phones, we have these things that just – we all want to just be out there. People just – they’re willing to say or do anything, whether it’s men, whether it’s women willing to do and say anything just to be seen. These guys are just kind of being lost in that, to where they just – ‘I’m not going to be seen if I don’t say this or cross that line or do this.'”

Usman’s reign as champion had him in conversations among the greatest welterweights of all time. But unlike brash trash-talking superstars such as Conor McGregor, “The Nigerian Nightmare” tried to mostly let his fighting do the talking. He thinks McGregor’s rise influenced a lot of fighters’ perception of success.

“For me, I’ve never been that kind of guy,” Usman said. “I guess that’s kind of been a knock on me. Some people didn’t like the fact that when I’m dominating everyone, I’m not belittling them. I’m not saying this or saying that.

“There wasn’t a line that McGregor wasn’t willing to cross. We saw where that got him. McGregor’s probably one of the most famous mixed martial arts fighters ever, no doubt. With that, you have all these young kids now looking at that and going, ‘Oh yeah, I can just say and do whatever I want to do that’s going to make me famous.'”

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Colby Covington: If that was a five-round fight, Kamaru Usman would have destroyed Khamzat Chimaev

Colby Covington shared some rare praise for former foe Kamaru Usman.

LAS VEGAS – [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] shared some rare praise for former foe [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag].

Usman (20-4 MMA, 15-3 UFC) fell short in his middleweight debut against unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 294, rallying late to lose a majority decision.

Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC), who fought Usman twice in classic title-fight battles, thought the former welterweight champion did enough to beat Chimaev.

“I thought he beat him. I thought he beat ‘C*mshot’ (Chimaev),” Covington told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 296 media day. “(Usman) was striking him. I thought he dropped him. ‘C*mshot’ was scared to strike with him. He didn’t even hit him once, you know. Look at the significant strikes that were landed.

“If that was a five-round fight, Usman would have destroyed him. He would have finished him in those championship rounds. I thought he looked good. He took it on, what, four or five days’ notice at 185 (pounds) – up a weight class, never fought at that weight class. I thought he beat him.”

Covington’s support comes after Usman shared some nice words about him when breaking down his title shot against Leon Edwards in Saturday’s UFC 296 headliner. Covington admits it was unexpected.

“It was definitely surprising,” Covington said. “It caught me off guard. I really don’t know what to make of that. I haven’t really processed it fully, but I can tell you one thing: He spent 10 rounds in that octagon with me and he knows what I’m capable of. He knows the dog that’s inside of me, so he’s only speaking truth and facts, and shoutout to ‘Marty.'”

If Covington dethrones Edwards, he’s not ruling out a third fight with Usman, even though the former champ currently is on a three-fight losing skid. Covington was stopped by Round 5 TKO in their first fight, and edged out in their rematch.

“In my opinion, I beat him,” Covington said. “I beat him seven out of 10 rounds. You go back to my fight at Madison Square Garden – go rewatch that fight. Every single fan in that arena told me ‘You won Rounds 3, 4 and 5.’ It was clear as day. He won one round – the second round.

“The first round was a tossup. I do feel like I beat him in that fight and I feel like I’m a better fighter than him. I would love to see that trilogy. That’s another fight that plays out, so all these other contenders can wait because that’s bigger business that me and Usman have to settle. It’s unfinished business.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Kamaru Usman: Colby Covington fought me ‘neck and neck,’ won’t deviate from plan vs. Leon Edwards at UFC 296

Kamaru Usman praises Colby Covington for his relentlessness ahead of UFC 296.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] praises [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] for his relentlessness ahead of UFC 296.

Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) challenges welterweight champion Leon Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) for the title in Saturday’s main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.

Usman has history with Covington and Edwards, having fought them numerous times each. Usman defeated Covington twice in thrilling title fights and went 1-2 against Edwards, losing back-to-back championship fights at UFC 278 and UFC 286. Based on his fights vs. both Covington and Edwards, Usman sees Covington pursuing a heavy grappling approach.

“Colby Covington is not going to stop trying to get that takedown,” Usman said on ESPN’s “DC & RC.” “That’s where he differs from you and I. We can adjust because we can strike. We’ve got the power to be able to hurt a guy and put him out. Colby Covington is not going to deviate away from the plan, especially when he knows, ‘This guy’s not a national champion. This guy’s not an All-American. This guy’s a striker that has learned how to defend takedowns using the cage. I am going to shoot takedowns as much as I can until I get him down.’

“Going by my fights, I’m going to be honest with you, I’m being straight up with you: Colby Covington fought me neck and neck. I just had to outclass him towards the end.”

Usman landed nine takedowns against Edwards in their two title fights. Even if Covington isn’t immediately successful in getting Edwards down, Usman doesn’t expect him to be discouraged.

“Colby Covington doesn’t care,” Usman continued. “You saw him when he fought Robbie Lawler. He’s going to shoot repeatedly and then he’s going to put the pressure on you, and he’s going to strike and strike and strike. The first one might not hurt you. The second one might not hurt you. But maybe the 18th one might be the one to hurt you.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Kamaru Usman implores Leon Edwards to stop ‘whining’ about UFC pushing Colby Covington

Kamaru Usman says Leon Edwards should take matters into his own hands if he thinks the UFC is siding with Colby Covington.

[autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] thinks welterweight champion [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] should take matters into his own hands if he thinks the UFC is siding with [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag].

Edwards (21-3 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will look to make his second title defense when he meets Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 296 main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.

In a recent interview on “The MMA Hour,” Edwards said he thinks both former U.S. President Donald Trump and the UFC are rooting for Covington to win. Usman explains that the UFC doesn’t have a personal preference; it’s just business. He thinks Covington is “undeniably” the bigger star.

“The UFC doesn’t care,” Usman said on ESPN’s “DC & RC.” “The UFC wants who’s going to make the most money. That’s who they care about. They are a company, and they’re trying to bring in revenue.”

Usman doesn’t disagree with former foe Edwards’ thinking but advises him to change that notion.

“Leon, if you feel that the UFC wants him to win because it brings them more money, well, change that,” Usman said. “You be that cash cow. You be that guy that brings in more money. So, I don’t want to hear that from a champion, because that just sounds like whining to me. You want to change the narrative, then go out there and change that narrative.”

Former champion Usman defeated Covington twice in back-and-forth title fights but wound up losing his belt to Edwards at UFC 278 after notching five title defenses. He then went on to lose the trilogy to Edwards in a close decision loss at UFC 286.

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

Owen Roddy: Colby Covington ‘a trickier’ fight for Leon Edwards than Kamaru Usman

Owen Roddy sees Colby Covington as a tougher puzzle to solve for Leon Edwards than Kamaru Usman.

Owen Roddy sees [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag] as a tougher puzzle to solve for [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] than [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag].

Covington (17-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) challenges Edwards (20-3 MMA, 12-2 UFC) for the welterweight title in the UFC 296 main event on Dec. 16 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Edwards is coming off back-to-back title wins over Kamaru Usman, whereas Covington has lost twice to former champ Usman. But striking coach Roddy sees Covington’s style of wrestling potentially being a problem for Edwards.

“It’s a tricky one, you know,” Roddy told The MacLife. “Two very intelligent fighters. I always said about Leon and Fabian that they always came with really good, really intelligent game plans.

“I do believe that Colby’s a trickier fight than Usman. I think his chain wrestling might be a bit of a problem for Leon. But like I said, if Leon can nullify the wrestling and keep it on the feet, he’s got the power to put Colby away.”

Covington rebounded from his second loss to Usman with a lopsided decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 272. Although Roddy sees a path to victory for Covington, he’s ultimately picking Edwards to retain his belt.

“Obviously, if Colby can keep mixing it up and make it a difficult fight, he could win via decision,” Roddy continued. “But, I’ll go with Leon.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.

MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time: Full list and videos

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, this is our definitive list of the promotion’s 30 greatest fighters of all time.

To commemorate the UFC’s 30th anniversary, MMA Junkie has compiled its definitive list of the 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time. We revealed one every day until the anniversary of UFC 1, which took place Nov. 12, 1993.

Our complete rankings, along with videos for each fighter, can be viewed below.

About the list: All 12 members of our staff submitted their own individual 30 greatest UFC fighters list. Each fighter was assigned a corresponding numerical value based on where they were ranked on an individual’s list, i.e. No. 1 = 30, No. 2 = 29, etc. We took those numbers and added them up to get a total number for each fighter to determine the composite ranking of MMA Junkie’s 30 greatest UFC fighters of all time.

Video: Kamaru Usman vs. Robert Whittaker or Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje? Pick one.

Kamaru Usman vs. Robert Whittaker and Max Holloway vs. Justin Gaethje both sound like awesome matchups, don’t they?

UFC Hall of Famers Daniel Cormier and Michael Bisping, two regulars on the commentary desk with big followings, each have an idea for a compelling matchup that would involve former champions moving up a division.

Cormier said he would like to see [autotag]Kamaru Usman[/autotag] move up a division to meet [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] in a former welterweight champion vs. former middleweight champion showdown, while Bisping advised [autotag]Justin Gaethje[/autotag] to defend his “BMF” title belt against former featherweight champ [autotag]Max Holloway[/autotag], who called out Gaethje, as opposed to sitting and waiting for a lightweight title shot.

Which of these two fights – Usman vs. Whittaker or Holloway vs. Gaethje – would you rather see? Our “Spinning Back Clique” of Danny Segura, Dan Tom and Brian “Goze” Garcia answer that question with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

You can watch their discussion in the video above and check out this week’s full episode on YouTube or in podcast form below.