Kamaru Usman is ready to fight Belal Muhammad for the title by year's end: "I Take my welterweight strap back"
Kamaru Usman has Belal Muhammad in his crosshairs for a title fight and feels like he can regain his 170-pound strap in the coming months if all falls into place. Leon Edwards dropped his welterweight title to Belal Muhammad at UFC 304 on July 27 with the away player dominating the UK combatant to become the new champion in Manchester, England.
Speaking to his co-host Henry Cejudo on the Pound 4 Pound podcast following the minting of a new titleholder at 170 pounds over the weekend, Usman said:
"You want the Nigerian Nightmare Kamaru Usman? Give me ample time to get in there. At the end of the year, top of next year, I'll go in there and I take my welterweight strap back, one hundred percent. But if you're talking to the man that's from the outside looking in to try to satisfy everybody when you look at the landscape of everything."
"Yes it's oh, he lost to Leon Edwards. But you know, people have amnesia very quickly. People forget that I was winning almost twenty four minutes of that fight until the lightning struck and Leon landed that kick. I think when you land something like that, it almost kind of spoiled Leon to where he forgot that hey I was being dominated this exact same way," he added.
Usman went on to say he felt that 'Rocky' had an attitude of 'I'm the champion, I can just do whatever I want'. He felt his former rival did not fix those grappling related mistakes and did not shore up his anti-wrestling game enough for the Muhammad matchup.
Check out Kamaru Usman's call out of Belal Muhammad post-UFC 304 below:
Kamaru Usman and his UFC welterweight title legacy
Kamaru Usman is coming off of multiple losses but is undoubtedly one of the greatest welterweight champions in UFC history. Also his last loss to Khamzat Chimaev was a short notice contest where he lost on points and the former champion pseudo-referenced that short notice turnaround early on in the above quote.
The 37-year-old is tied with Matt Hughes for all time welterweight title defenses at five apiece with only Georges St-Pierre standing above Hughes and Usman. GSP has defended the UFC's 170-pound title on nine occasions.
The native of Nigeria captured the belt from Tyron Woodley and went on to defend the crown two times each against former interim champion Colby Covington and the former BMF champion Jorge Masvidal. He also defended the title against Gilbert Burns through his reign before dropping the belt to Leon Edwards in their rematch.