"That wasn't special" - Kamaru Usman opens up about how he felt about fighting Khamzat Chimaev
Kamaru Usman wasn't overly impressed with Khamzat Chimaev after they fought.
In October 2023, Chimaev was scheduled to fight Paulo Costa at UFC 294. A week before the event, Costa announced he was forced to pull out due to an elbow infection, creating a need for a short-notice replacement.
Former UFC welterweight champion Usman accepted the opportunity and challenged the undefeated Chimaev at middleweight. After three hard-fought rounds, 'The Nigerian Nightmare' came up short and suffered a majority decision loss.
Usman recently recorded an episode of his podcast, Pound 4 Pound, with Henry Cejudo as the co-host and Chael Sonnen as a guest. Sonnen asked the former 170-pound king if Chimaev was special, leading to the following response:
"You get those types of fights and those positions to where you build something up in your mind, in your head. Especially now in this machine of the UFC of MMA; you build them up in your head. Then you get in there, and you go, 'That wasn't special.' There was nothing different that I haven't seen."
Kamaru Usman reveals he doubted himself heading into Khamzat Chimaev fight
Before fighting Khamzat Chimaev, Kamaru Usman endured back-to-back losses against Leon Edwards for the UFC welterweight title. Therefore, Usman went through the toughest chapter of his career before testing himself against 'Borz' at a higher weight class.
During the previously mentioned podcast, Usman had this to say about doubting himself heading into UFC 294:
"100%, [I doubted myself]. You're looking at comments, and you see 99 comments that says you're the greatest. It's just like wrestling. We don't remember all the people we beat, but you remember those tough ones in the finals that you lost. It's kind of one of those situations to where I haven't heard that [I was an underdog] in a while."
It's unclear what's next for Kamaru Usman inside the Octagon. Luckily, the 36-year-old doesn't seem interested in retiring before attempting to regain UFC gold. Only time will tell if 'The Nigerian Nightmare' can silence the doubters and get back on track at welterweight or middleweight to end his three-fight skid.
Watch Usman's comments starting at 9:30 below: