"Been around for so long" - Kamaru Usman "definitely" considering fighting two-time UFC title challenger
Kamaru Usman is desperately looking for an opponent to get back in the win column after back-to-back losses to current UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards. At 36, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ is not getting younger and has a relatively smaller window to work his way back to the title picture.
His attempt to fast-track the process hit a roadblock after the highly sought-after Khamzat Chimaev moved up to middleweight for his next fight. Usman is looking elsewhere to make a comeback and recently called out a former two-time title challenger.
Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson was a top contender during Usman’s UFC welterweight title reign. He was on a mission to get a third crack at the title but losses to Gilbert Burns and Belal Muhammad derailed his run. With both men looking for an opponent, Usman has Wonderboy on his list. While weighing his options in an interview with TMZ Sports, Kamaru Usman stated:
“He needs an opponent. Wonderboy’s just… He’s been around for so long and he’s just that name where it’s always a great fight, you know.”
“His style is very difficult to fight and he’s one of those names that I never really got to when... He was in my era and I never really got to fight. So Wonderboy, I would definitely consider that.”
You can watch Kamaru Usman make the statement from the 4:45 mark of the video below:
Kamaru Usman sides with Stephen Thompson’s decision to pull out of his UFC 291 fight
Stephen Thompson was expected to fight Michel Pereira in a highly anticipated fight at UFC 291. However, Pereira failed to make weight, and ‘Wonderboy’ decided to pull out of the fight. He has been heavily criticized by a section of the MMA community since. Kamaru Usman sided with the 40-year-old and questioned the critics for attacking him:
“WHY? We signed on the contract and this man said that he was going to make this weight. He decided to not make that weight and I told him ‘Okay, I need you to go back and I need you to make the weight’ and he’s not going to try, why is that my fault? No… absolutely not my fault. People need to stop that.”
Cutting the last three to four pounds of weight is an extremely difficult task that takes a toll on a fighter’s body. Kamaru Usman argued that if a fighter does not shed those last few pounds he has no right to step in there with someone that managed to do it.
“Come on, if you’re not going to kill your body to get there but then you want to step in there against me and try to kill me? Come on, man! That doesn’t make sense.”
Kamaru Usman and Stephen Thompson have staggeringly different fighting styles. The potential fight has an interesting element of surprise to it but remains to be seen if the UFC ends up putting it together.