"He's the king, stay the king" - 'Big' John McCarthy on why Kamaru Usman should avoid move up to light heavyweight
‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in with his take on Kamaru Usman’s potential move from welterweight (170-pound) to the light heavyweight (205-pound) division. Usman, the longtime UFC welterweight champion, has consistently expressed interest in capturing a UFC title in a second weight class.
However, since his close friend Israel Adesanya is the UFC middleweight (185-pound) champion, Usman has refrained from going after the 185-pound crown. Instead, ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ has claimed that he’d like to pursue the UFC light heavyweight title.
Intriguingly, at UFC 276 on July 2, Usman posed for a face-off with former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz. The welterweight kingpin notably opined that he could beat Blachowicz despite their significant weight differential.
In an edition of the Weighing In podcast, former MMA referee John McCarthy and former UFC lightweight fighter Josh Thomson addressed the Usman-Blachowicz face-off. They also weighed in on Usman’s potential move to light heavyweight.
Thomson and McCarthy seemingly agreed that Usman would have the wrestling advantage against Blachowicz. However, it’s the latter who’s more accustomed to competing at light heavyweight. Additionally, McCarthy repeatedly warned Usman against moving to 205 pounds. He advised Usman to stay at welterweight rather than jump up 35 pounds.
McCarthy stated:
“I don’t wanna see him [Kamaru Usman] do it. I like Kamaru Usman. I think Kamaru Usman’s a phenomenal fighter. I think 170 pounds is a great weight class for him, and 205 is too big.”
He added:
"He’s a phenomenal MMA fighter. And at 170, dude, he’s the king. Stay the king. Don’t go up that far. Josh, we’re talking about 35 pounds of weight class. 35. Crazy. Don’t do it.”
Watch McCarthy and Thomson discuss the topic at 1:28:34 in the video below:
Robert Whittaker on Kamaru Usman’s all-important UFC welterweight title fight against Leon Edwards
Presently, the UFC light heavyweight title belongs to newly-crowned champion Jiri ‘BJP’ Prochazka. ‘BJP’ has been lobbying for his first title defense to be a rematch against Glover Teixeira, who he won the title from.
Meanwhile, UFC welterweight champion Usman is scheduled to defend his belt in a rematch against Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on August 20. Their first fight saw 'The Nigerian Nightmare' get the better of Edwards by out-grappling him and securing a unanimous decision victory in December 2015.
The P4P king has his next opponent set 😤
Kamaru Usman will face Leon Edwards at UFC 278 on August 20. https://t.co/sJSgOQ16NV
It’s believed that Edwards might be the biggest threat to Usman right now. Regardless, former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker foresees Usman defeating ‘Rocky’ yet again. In an edition of MMA Pros Pick with James Lynch, Whittaker said:
“Probably [Kamaru] Usman. He’s just tough. He looks like a very hard person to beat at the moment. He looks unstoppable.”
Watch Whittaker's assessment below: