Kamaru Usman's manager Ali Abdelaziz denies Alexander Volkanovski's No.1 P4P rank
Kamaru Usman's manager Ali Abdelaziz is not ready to acknowledge the fact that Alexander Volkanovski is now the UFC pound-for-pound king. The Dominance MMA CEO recently hailed Usman as the UFC P4P king while responding to a fan on Twitter. Reacting to a comment which stated that Usman was not the P4P king, Abdelaziz wrote:
"Usman is"
Usman is twitter.com/luptonology101…
The fan had originally commented on Abdelaziz's post about all the UFC champions he has managed. The list had "#1 Pound for Pound" written in brackets next to Usman and Khabib Nurmagomedov's names.
@FabricioWerdum
@USMAN84kg (#1 Pound for Pound)
@FrankieEdgar
Rafael Dos Anjos
@TeamKhabib Nurmagomedov (# 1 Pound for Pound)
@Justin_Gaethje
@MAKHACHEVMMA
@Cody_Nolove
@HenryCejudo (2 Division Champion)
I’m proud to be a part of all of these legends becoming UFC champions
While Nurmagomedov retired from the sport as the No.1-ranked P4P fighter in the world, Kamaru Usman failed to achieve the same feat. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' recently lost his welterweight throne to Leon Edwards via a huge upset loss at UFC 278. Along with losing the UFC welterweight title, he also lost the top spot in the P4P rankings.
Usman's spot was taken by current featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who established his dominance with an emphatic third victory over Max Holloway back in July. 'The Nigerian Nightmare', meanwhile, shockingly dropped to No.4, behind Israel Adesanya and Islam Makhachev.
Kamaru Usman still considers himself the UFC P4P king
Kamaru Usman thoroughly dominated Leon Edwards before being put to sleep with a deft head kick in the final minute of the fight. Despite it being his first-ever UFC loss, Usman has seemingly handled it in good spirits.
The former welterweight champion refuses to be identified with the belt and is well aware of his worth without it. He still considers himself the best P4P fighter in the world, although he acknowledged Islam Makhachev's recent victory over Charles Oliveira. 'The Nigerian Nightmare' said in an interview with TMZ Sports:
“To be honest with you, I think I’m the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It’s kind of hard to argue with what Islam [Makhachev] just did, but I know I’m the best welterweight in the world. So, I don’t feel just cause I don’t have the belt right now, it’s nothing. Even when I was trying to fight these guys for that title and these guys were telling me, ‘No, we don’t want to fight you, you don’t deserve it.’ I knew I was the best. Just like sitting right here, I know I’m the best.”
Watch Kamaru Usman's comments below (3:00):