"Hats off to Nick" - Kamaru Usman was impressed by Nick Diaz's performance at UFC 266
Kamaru Usman was in awe of the UFC 266 battle between Nick Diaz and Robbie Lawler. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' said he was impressed by Diaz's ability to keep up with Lawler's pace despite his six-year absence from the octagon.
In the third round of the fight, Diaz realized he didn't have enough in him to continue trading blows with Lawler. 'Ruthless' was awarded the victory via a TKO.
While some people found the fight underwhelming, others were equally happy with what they had witnessed, including Kamaru Usman. In an Instagram video, the 170-pound king said:
"Six years and some change... Nick (Diaz) was still throwing them things. I was impressed, I was impressed. Of course, the pace that (Robbie) Lawler put on him, there was no way Nick was gonna be able to stay with that pace after being gone for so long. So, (it was) kind of exactly what I thought would happen. Honestly, I thought Robbie would have gotten him out of there a little bit earlier but that shows the toughness of Nick. He's a tough guy and very OG of the game and fighting for before I knew about the UFC. I give respect where respect is due."
Kamaru Usman praises Nick Diaz for believing in himself
At the UFC 266 press conference, Nick Diaz made a bold claim that caught the attention of the MMA community.
The Stockton native suggested he should be fighting Kamaru Usman instead of Lawler. He also claimed that he's overall a better fighter than the UFC welterweight champion. While many fans gave Diaz some flak for his statements, Usman gave a different take.
"I know a lot of people were kind of coming down on him hard for the comments and the statements that he made during the week. At the end of the day, you have to believe in yourselves and Nick believed in himself... A lot of people were kind of going hard at him for the comments Nick made and I didn't like that because Nick still stepped in there after six and a half years being gone."
Watch Kamaru Usman's video, which was uploaded by YouTube channel MMA Crazy, below: