"Styles make fights" - Kamaru Usman called out by French UFC middleweight
It appears as though Kamaru Usman could have an opponent lined up should he continue competing at 185 pounds, as a French middleweight has called him out.
The former UFC welterweight champion most recently fought Khamzat Chimaev, albeit on short notice, this past October, and ended up losing a hard-fought decision. Despite the loss, many in the MMA community believed he would have won if he had a full training camp and if it was contested as a five round bout.
Since then, there has been plenty of speculation as to whether 'The Nigerian Nightmare' would continue at 185-pounds or return to 170-pounds. He took to his X account and shared a side-by-side photo of himself at both weight classes, while also posing a question to his followers. He wrote:
"What weight y’all choosing?"
![Usman's tweet regarding which weight he should compete at [Image courtesy: @USMAN84kg - X]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/02/9de21-17085335233045-1920.jpg?w=500)
The tweet caught the attention of Nassourdine Imavov, who chimed in with a challenge. He mentioned that he would like face Usman at 185 pounds and even suggested that they compete on the upcoming Saudi Arabia card. He wrote:
"Welcome to 185 @USMAN84kg. Styles make fights! @ufc June 22"
![Imavov's tweet responding to Usman [Image courtesy: @imavov1 - X]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2024/02/37844-17085341336835-1920.jpg)
It will be interesting to see whether Usman will continue competing at middleweight going forward and if he will accept Imavov's challenge.
Kamaru Usman opens up about the difficulties of being a fighter
Despite his recent losing skid, Kamaru Usman has already cemented his legacy as one of the greatest welterweights in UFC history.
The former welterweight champion defeated a number of top contenders on his way to becoming champion and then successfully retained his title on five occasions. During his appearance on the PBD Podcast, Usman opened up about the difficulties of competing at such as high level through out his career and mentioned that it takes a toll. He said:
"That 25 minutes [fighting] is just the fun part. That's the fun part that you guys just get to see. That's not what kills us, that's not what breaks our bodies. It's the months and months and weeks and weeks of practice that we're putting in twice a day. some guys are getting three a days...At the end of the day, the one thing that doesn't change is evolution."